The John Report: AEW Dynamite 09/07/22 Review

This week’s AEW Dynamite was the follow up to the All Out pay-per-view that saw MJF return to the company along with a lot of backstage chaos as well, so that meant two titles were vacated as well.

It’s been a newsworthy couple of days for AEW and not in a good way due to the backstage fight after All Out involving CM Punk, The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega and perhaps others. There have been reports of suspensions as well. They also will try to follow up after All Out with reports that CM Punk has an injury that’s significant. AEW President Tony Khan also announced he will address these things as well as the title situation.

Anyway, if you missed All Out on Sunday, you can check out my review. It was a pretty good show, but I think AEW has had better PPV’s this year.

This was AEW Dynamite episode #153 at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. 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 was on commentary with Tony Schiavone and Taz.

Apparently, CM Punk as well as The Elite trio (Nick Jackson, Matt Jackson & Kenny Omega) were removed from the Dynamite introduction video. I didn’t pay attention or notice it, but I saw people mention it online.

There was an opening video package showing Maxwell Jacob Friedman returning at AEW All Out as The Joker and getting a poker chip. At the end of the show, MJF said that “the belt” referring to the AEW World Title was coming to him.

Analysis: The key thing here is they did not show CM Punk at all in the ring with the AEW World Title.

AEW President Tony Khan said that after All Out, he has vacated the AEW World Title and the Trios Tag Team Titles. It’s Death Triangle vs. Best Friends & Orange Cassidy for the Trios Tag Team Titles and that’s coming up on this week’s show. Tony said that there will be a Grand Slam Tournament of Champions to crown a New AEW World Champion at AEW Dynamite Grand Slam in two weeks. Tony said that they (meaning AEW as a company) will be at their best on the way to Grand Slam.

Analysis: It’s a solution to the problems that existed. Chris Jericho and Jon Moxley get byes into the semifinals while Bryan Danielson, Darby Allin, Sammy Guevara & “Hangman” Adam Page are in the quarterfinals of this six-man tournament. It was smart to have Tony do a pre-tape promo rather than a live one. I think he was reading off a screen, which is also good because he comes across as a nervous talker.

Anyway, here are the tournament brackets:

Dynamite (9/7) — Bryan Danielson vs. ‘Hangman’ Adam Page

Rampage (9/9) — Sammy Guevara vs. Darby Allin

Dynamite (9/14) — Danielson/Page Winner vs. Chris Jericho

Dynamite (9/14) — Guevara/Allin vs. Jon Moxley

Grand Slam (9/21) — Finals To Crown NEW AEW World Champion

Analysis: My initial response is that I would like to see Bryan Danielson win it all to become the AEW World Champion. Let’s see it happen.

Let’s Hear from MJF

Maxwell Jacob Friedman made his entrance wearing a Josh Allen jersey to suck up to the Buffalo Bills fans and get some cheers. MJF hugged Taz and gave the other announcers the double middle finger. MJF got cheered in the ring.

MJF said that the devil is back while asking who was excited to see him? The fans cheered. MJF called Josh Allen the “greatest quarterback of all time.” That’s a bit of a stretch since he’s still very early in his career, but he is a great QB in the current NFL. MJF said he didn’t mean the things he said when he was last there and claimed he didn’t mean anything like calling the fans “marks” among other things. MJF insulted a woman and then said that he’ll meet her after the show.

MJF spoke about the Tournament of Champions to crown a new AEW World Champion. MJF said that he was a guy that deserved that championship, so he’s going to work smart and not work hard. MJF said that he’s got a chip that guarantees him a title shot any time he wants. MJF said that Tony is paying him a “boat load of freakin’ money” as well. MJF said you may think they are in dark times, but he’s a man that can lead them. MJF told a story about Moses, then said he’s better than Moses and he’s going to win that World Title because he’s Maxwell Jacob Friedman while reminding us he is better than you and you know it.

The former AEW World Champion Jon Moxley made his entrance from the back part of the arena as his song “Wild Thing” played with the fans cheering him.

Moxley got in the ring telling MJF that he is absolutely full of crap. MJF ripped the fans for being grotesque, poor lard asses and said that the Bills were the worst football. MJF rubbed the Josh Allen jersey on his butt, threw it away and said that “Josh Allen sucks.” That drew boos. MJF mocked Moxley for going to sleep on Sunday. MJF said that maybe he doesn’t care about AEW or these people, but maybe he can use the AEW World Title as a bidding war of 2024 (MJF is a free agent on January 1, 2024 apparently). MJF said that maybe he’ll take that title to a real wrestling company with real fans and real wrestler like his friend and hero Cody Rhodes. MJF said that maybe he’ll work with the only Khan, jolly old Nick (Nick Khan the WWE Co-CEO). MJF quoted his “favorite wrestler” Triple H saying that was “best for business.” Moxley told MJF he needs to leave the ring right now. MJF took off his dress shirt looking like he’s in great shape. MJF left. Moxley told MJF that his theme music sucks.

Analysis: It was great to hear from MJF again doing his obnoxious heel schtick after sucking up to the crowd before that. There might be some people out there that thought maybe he would be more of a face after coming back, but I don’t think that would have been right. Perhaps down the road we might see MJF in that kind of role, but not yet. Also since MJF isn’t in the tournament that will crown a new World Champion at the Grand Slam Dynamite in two weeks, I assume that will mean they might hold off MJF’s AEW World Title shot until the Full Gear pay-per-view in November. That’s just a guess right now, but it makes sense. Let’s go my REIGNING AND DEFENDING SUPER BOWL CHAMPION LA Rams over those Buffalo Bills on Thursday.

Moxley addressed the crowd saying he is pissed off, he is embarrassed and he is angry that he is standing there without the AEW World Championship. Moxley said that what means something to him is what the AEW World Championship represents and it means a lot to a lot of people. Moxley said that it represents passion for this sport, this business, the passion for the guys in the back and the crowd. Moxley said that it represents the dream, the vision when they started this company years ago and showed what this business can be. Moxley kept on going talking about how the AEW World Championship represents freedom and being better than the day before. Moxley said that World Championship represents everything he loves about this business. Moxley said that on Sunday, he lost and he got pinned, so that’s on him. Moxley said that he missed the game-winning shot. Moxley talked about how he was supposed to be on vacation right now until two days ago. Moxley called Chris Jericho the greatest of all-time, then said Bryan Danielson is the best wrestler and talked about Darby Allin, Sammy Guevara & “Hangman” Adam Page all being talented guys younger than him. Moxley said that “the ace” always wants the ball and he wants the ball, so he’s going to take a shot. Moxley said that this isn’t just time to win, this isn’t just winning time, this is time to be a legend.

Analysis: Great promo by Moxley. I think it was kind of a message to say that he was a leader in AEW because the Young Bucks and Omega were very irresponsible as supposed leaders in the company, but Moxley is a guy that has a lot of pride in AEW. The announcers put this over as some epic promo or something like that because they are always going to try to put a positive spin on things after the chaos of the last few days.

There was a rundown of what’s coming up this week including Hangman Page vs. Bryan Danielson later in the show.

For The Vacant AEW Trios Tag Team Championships: Death Triangle – Pac, Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix (w/Alex Abrahantes) vs. Best Friends – Trent Beretta, Chuck Taylor & Orange Cassidy (w/Danhausen)

The Trios Tag Team Titles were won by The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega at All Out, but they were suspended (we think) by AEW, so the titles have been vacated. The Young Bucks and Omega were never mentioned by Tony Khan in his promo or the announcers.

There was some comedy stuff to start leading to Penta kicking Orange, who came back with a headscissors takedown. All six guys went into the ring to do moves within a minute with Death Triangle clearing the ring. The Death Triangle trio charged, but Best Friends gave them back body drops over the top to the floor. Orange jumped off the hands of his friends, so he went over the top rope onto the three Death Triangle guys. They went to a picture-in-picture break.

Analysis: I don’t know how they get away with not going to a commercial for 26 minutes, but that’s what happened. Good for them.

(Commercial)

Orange got the tag against the Lucha Brothers with a double hurricanrana, but Pac was legal, so Pac knocked Orange down with a forearm to the face. Danhausen and Alex had a showdown on the floor leading to Danhausen cursing Alex, then Alex did the Penta taunt, so Danhausen punched him in the gut. Pack kicked Danhausen while Orange hit a dive on Pac on the floor. Orange with a cross body block and DDT. Penta was legal, Cassidy hit a Stundog Millionaire, Taylor got the tag and suplexed Fenix onto Penta in the corner. Penta and Fenix were both in the ring illegally with Penta slamming Fenix onto Taylor for a two count. Taylor with a boot to the face of Penta, Fenix got a tag and Trent hit a release suplex on Fenix after a boot from Taylor. Trent with a Tornado DDT on Fenix, but Fenix was back up with a Cutter. All six guys were in the ring doing spots again with Orange hitting a German Suplex, Penta with a pumphandle sitout slam on Orange, Trent with a knee on Penta and Pac superkicked Trent into a Code Red from Fenix for a two count. That was a chaotic couple of minutes with the referee losing total control as usual. The fans chanted “this is awesome” for the spotfest. Orange with an Orange Punch, then Trent and Taylor hit moves with one of them called a Crunchie and that got a two count for Trent. Death Triangle with triple superkicks and triple Canadian Destroyers. Fenix hit a twisting dive over the top onto Orange and Trent. Penta hit a somersault dive onto Orange and Trent. Pac was legal in the ring against Taylor, Pac went up top and hit a Shooting Star Press on Chuck for the pinfall win after about 13 minutes.

Winners by pinfall: Death Triangle – Pac, Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix

Analysis: ***3/4 A chaotic tag team match where they were doing some wild spots throughout the match as usual. I thought it was entertaining for the most part although they really didn’t give a damn about trying to have a regular tag team match where the legal man matters. It turned into a spotfest towards the end. I give it a good rating because the action is good, a lot of cool looking from both sides and of course Death Triangle is so entertaining. I thought maybe Trent, Chuck and Orange might win as AEW originals that have been together a long time, but not yet. I think the right team got the win.

The trio of Pac, Penta & Fenix celebrated a bit with the titles. No replays were shown and they only had the titles for like ten seconds when the camera cut away. Pac is all the All-Atlantic Champion, so he has two titles now.

Analysis: This is a problem in AEW sometimes. They rush everything. Let the champions celebrate on camera, enjoy the moment, show replays of key spots and explain why they won. Instead, they have to rush onto the next week. It’s a title win. Let’s try to make it feel important.

Dark Order was about to be interviewed by Tony Schiavone, who mentioned somebody had an injury, so they weren’t in the title match. Before it could go anywhere, Jose The Assistant said that they wanted to recruit Ten. Dark Order’s John Silver and Evil Uno shut him down, then Andrade El Idolo showed up with a crutch that he gave to Ten, who had a previously hurt knee.

Analysis: I don’t know why they constantly book Andrade to try to recruit people to work for him. It’s a dumb gimmick.

(Commercial)

They showed the Women’s Fatal 4-Way at All Out leading to problems between Jamie Hayter and Britt Baker. Toni Storm won the Interim AEW Women’s Title.

Penelope Ford was up next with husband Kip Sabian, who still has a box on his head for some reason. I think Ford wins the award for my favorite outfit on the show. Just saying. Toni Storm was up next with her new title.

Toni Storm vs. Penelope Ford (w/Kip Sabian)

This was not for Storm’s title. It was even early on as they exchanged holds, Storm with a shoulder tackle. Ford with a kick to the gut, Ford with shoulder tackles and a dropkick that sent Ford into the corner. Storm charged, Ford avoided it and Ford went to the floor, so Storm kicked her. Ford sent Storm into the steel steps leading to a picture-in-picture break.

(Commercial)

Ford was in control sending Storm into the turnbuckle. Ford went for a cartwheel attack in the corner, Storm avoided it and Ford hit the turnbuckle. Storm with a running shoulder tackle and a running hip attack against the corner. Storm hit a jumping DDT that didn’t look impressive at all, yet that was enough for the win. The crowd didn’t care. It was only six minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Toni Storm

Analysis: *1/2 A short match with a flat finish. They didn’t really have any nearfalls before the ending. They got about six minutes and three minutes on the full screen, which is pretty awful. It felt like a throwaway match for the women’s division where you’re telling the audience “here’s a match for very little time” and then you expect the fans to care? It’s bad booking here. I feel bad for the women’s division in AEW because they just don’t get the chance to do a lot.

There were promos from Angelo Parker & Matt Menard talking trash about Hook & Action Bronson setting up a showdown at the Grand Slam Dynamite in a few weeks.

The Acclaimed made their entrance. Max Caster and Anthony Bowens got a big pop, but Caster’s rap attempt was interrupted by Swerve Strickland, who was booed heavily. It was announced that in two weeks it’s Swerve In Our Glory defending the AEW Tag Team Titles against The Acclaimed in two weeks on the Grand Slam Dynamite episode. Caster didn’t get to do a rap while Billy Gunn & Bowens talked about how they were going to win. That was it.

Analysis: This felt rushed like other segments on the show. The fans wanted a rap from Caster and The Acclaimed are clearly faces now, so why not give the fans the rap that they wanted? The answer is because they wanted Swerve to get heat so that’s what happened It was dumb to rush through this after their great match at All Out. No sign of Keith Lee, so Swerve got all the heat himself.

(Commercial)

Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara, Tay Melo & Anna Jay were interviewed backstage. Jericho talked about how he’s the best ever, he’s found the fountain of youth and he’s drinking it in, man. Jericho said that he’s the best wrestler ever, the best sports entertainer ever and that’s another reason why he’s going to beat Bryan Danielson again next week on Dynamite. Jericho said that this is his company, this is his locker room and nobody is taking it away from him. Jericho talked about Sammy Guevara taking Darby Allin in the Tournament Champions. Sammy just said that Darby’s “turtle of an ass” is getting beat. That was it. Jericho talked about Daniel Garcia’s big match in his hometown of Buffalo and Jericho said that he knows Danny is going to win. Jericho told Garcia (who was not there) that he’ll beat Yuta without the Jericho Appreciation Society. Sammy mentioned they’re all sexy to end it.

Analysis: Jericho is on a roll. That’s true based on recent wins. Jericho’s line about how it’s his locker room is a way of saying he’s a locker room leader while guys like The Young Bucks & Kenny Omega were not since they got into that fight with CM Punk on Sunday.

TNT Championship: Wardlow vs. Tony Nese (w/Smart Mark Sterling)

Nese flexed in front of Wardlow, then Wardlow gave him a headbutt and a wind up lariat. Wardlow with a stiff Powerbomb. Wardlow with a second and third Powerbomb to end it after less than two minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Wardlow

Analysis: 1/4* Match of the year. Let’s get Wardlow a meaningful feud at some point.

Wardlow tried to give a Powerbomb to Sterling, but Josh Woods saved Sterling from the attack.

Wardlow did a fired promo saying he heard from people that he’s lost momentum. Wardlow reminded us that he’s the TNT Champion and he will remind us that this is Wardlow’s World.

Analysis: It can be “Wardlow’s World” all he wants, but he hasn’t had anything interesting to do on these shows since the MJF feuded ended. Why is a babyface talking about what internet fans are saying? The reason it’s being said is because the guy booking him has done a poor job since Wardlow won the title. It’s the creative team’s fault, not the fans on the internet. They need to find this guy a storyline that’s interesting.

This Friday on Rampage it’s Darby Allin vs. Sammy Guevara in the Tournament of Champions, so they had Allin talk about their history together and Allin told Sammy to face him alone.

Bryan Danielson entered first for the Tournament of Champions match with the fans cheering him and William Regal joined commentary. Nice ovation for “Hangman” Adam Page, who also got a solid pop, but not as loud as he used to get at times.

Tournament of Champions Quarterfinals: Bryan Danielson vs. “Hangman” Adam Page

The winner of this match faces Chris Jericho in the semifinals of the Tournament of Champions next week.

These two had two amazing matches in the past. It was a slow feeling out process at the start of the match with some armbars and wrist lock type moves. Bryan bailed to the floor to regroup before going back in to grab a headlock. Page with a hard chop to the chest, Bryan chopped him back, Page with another chop and Bryan chipped up Page while stomping on the back of the knees. They exchanged strikes again with some more chops leading to Bryan delivering several kicks to knock Page down. Bryan was on the middle turnbuckle, Page sent him to the apron and Page jumped off the rope with a springboard clothesline to knock Bryan off the apron to the floor. Page tried a dive onto the floor, Bryan avoided it and Bryan sent Page into the ring post.

(Commercial)

Bryan was in control working on the right arm of Page followed by another exchange of chops leading to Bryan getting some kicks to the body. Regal said that Bryan was taking away that lariat arm of Page. Bryan ran the ropes, Page caught him and Page hit a fallaway slam. Page hit a slingshot dive over the top onto Bryan on the floor. Back in the ring, Page hit a Death Valley Driver on Bryan for a two count. Bryan countered a move, then a trip into the turnbuckle and Bryan hit a running corner dropkick. Bryan hit another corner dropkick, then a hurricanrana and a roundhouse kick to the head. The well-tanned Chris Jericho was shown watching since he faces the winner. Bryan worked over Page’s right arm with kicks along with another roundhouse kick to the head. Bryan went up top, Page met him with punches and Page hit an impressive fallaway slam off the top for a two count. Great move there. Page wanted a Buckshot Lariat from the apron, but Bryan rolled to the floor leading to a picture-in-picture break.

(Commercial)

Page and Bryan were exchanging strikes again, Bryan went for a suplex, but Page landed on his feet and Page hit a Liger Bomb for two. The announcers claimed that Bryan kicked out because Page didn’t have his legs on both of Bryan’s arms. The actual reason is because it is not Page’s finisher, but it’s good for the announcers to say what they said. Bryan was able to hang Page upside down against the turnbuckle leading to Bryan hitting a low dropkick followed by Bryan doing hammer elbows to the head/neck area. Bryan hit a belly-to-back superplex, but Hangman did a backflip onto his feet. Bryan blocked a righty clothesline, so Hangman hit a lefty clothesline for two. Bryan was able to recover quickly with the LeBell Lock submission on the right arm that Bryan worked on for most of the match. Page gave Bryan a catapult into the ropes, Bryan did the skin the cat back in leading to a double underhook suplex by Bryan. That led to the armbar by Bryan and then he turned it into the LeBell Lock on the right arm again. Page broke free, he delivered some knee strikes to the shoulder and broke free from the submission. Page with a forearm with the right arm, then a clothesline to the right arm, Bryan reacted like it caused no damage and Bryan charged at Page, who caught Bryan with the Deadeye slam for two. The Deadeye looks cool, but the move is entirely bumping to his knees while holding Bryan on his back. Anyway, Page went for a top rope moonsault, Bryan moved and Bryan hit a Busaiko Knee that sent Page into the ropes, so Page rolled to the floor. No pin attempt because Page was on the floor. Bryan went for a suicide dive, Page caught him and sent Bryan’s back into the ring apron. Page with a moonsault off the turnbuckle onto Bryan on the floor. Back in the ring, Page wanted the Buckshot Lariat, Bryan got the O’Conner rollup into a bridge back into a jackknife pin for a two count. It went about 22 minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Bryan Danielson

Analysis: ****1/2 It was an excellent match as usual from these guys, who are two of the best wrestlers in AEW and have incredible chemistry together. Lots of back and forth action throughout the match. What I love about Bryan’s matches is there’s always going to be a story. In this case, it was Bryan working over Page’s right arm repeatedly to take away the Buckshot Lariat that Page uses as a finish (Regal pointed it out on commentary) and it ended up working because Bryan was able to come back after Hangman’s strikes. They obviously didn’t want to have Hangman look weak by getting pinned, so going with a different kind of finish is fine because Bryan wins matches in different ways all the time. The finish was clever because it was a creative rollup into a bridging pin by Bryan. I liked this match a lot.

Bryan goes on to face Chris Jericho next week on Dynamite. Jericho was shown watching that.

Analysis: I think this should have been the main event of the show, but I understand wanting to put the younger guys on last since Garcia is a hometown guy.

Jungle Boy did a taped promo backstage issuing threats to Christian Cage and Luchasaurus, who turned on Boy to help Christian. Jungle Boy said that sometimes you have to learn from your past and sometimes you have to destroy it.

Analysis: They had a short match at All Out because Christian had a right arm injury, so they will probably do a rematch at some point and have Jungle Boy go after Luchasaurus as well.

(Commercial)

Stokely Hathaway was on the stage with his stable including W. Morrissey, Austin & Colten Gunn, Ethan Page, and Lee Moriarty. Hathaway claimed he was a ladder match king. Some random guy in a headset was a “stagehand” telling Hathaway to stop, so Hathaway hit him with a microphone and the wrestlers beat the poor guy up. Morrissey gave the poor “production assistant” a kick to the face.

Analysis: There wasn’t much there other than the group beating up the indy guy that they tried to say was a production assistant or stagehand. There’s no name for the group yet and it was never mentioned why they worked for MJF.

This Friday on Rampage (taped after Dynamite):

* ROH TV Champion Samoa Joe talks.

* Sammy Guevara vs. Darby Allin in the Tournament of Champions Quarterfinals.

* Serena Deeb vs. Madison Rayne.

* ROH World Championship: Claudio Castagnoli vs. Dax Harwood. They showed comments from both guys. They showed comments from both guys.

Next week on Dynamite in Albany, NY:

* Chris Jericho vs. Bryan Danielson

* Jon Moxley vs. Winner of Guevara/Allin

They had Buffalo’s own Westside Gunn (not in Gunn Club) did a rap on the stage wearing a Marshawn Lynch Buffalo Bills jersey. Daniel Garcia made his entrance to a hometown pop with Westside saying that Garcia would be the next ROH Pure Champion. The ring announcer from ROH Bobby Cruise introduced the ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta for this title defense.

ROH Pure Championship: Wheeler Yuta vs. Daniel Garcia

The commentary team was still joined by William Regal (because Yuta is in the Blackpool Combat Club) and ROH’s Caprice Coleman. They had Jerry Lynn, BJ Whitmer & Matt Sydal as judges if needed.

The fans chanted for Buffalo’s own Garcia at the start of the match. The wrestlers spent the first minute locking up as the fans chanted “Let’s Go Buffalo” for them and then they went tumbling out of the ring to the floor. The announcers talked about how evenly matched they are as they went back into the ring. The show went to a picture-in-picture break.

(Commercial)

The match returned with Yuta jumping off the top with a forearm to the face. The announcers noted that Garcia used one of his three rope breaks during the break and if you use all three then you can be submitted while grabbing the ropes. Yuta exchanged chops with Garcia followed by Yuta hitting a snap suplex. Regal talked about how talented these two young guys while also telling Taz that his son (Hook) is included with Regal saying he appreciates it. Garcia hit a couple of belly to back suplexes along with two clotheslines. Garcia with a boot to the face, but Yuta was back in with three straight German Suplexes, so Garcia tried to break the grip. Garcia hit three straight German Suplexes of his own. Yuta got back in control with two more German Suplex, then Garcia with two more German Suplex. They went to the turnbuckle and Garcia gave Yuta German Suplex off the middle rope with Yuta landing hard on his head. They went to a picture-in-picture break again.

(Commercial)

The match continued with both guys on the mat after Garcia gave Yuta a superplex. Excalibur overrated the match calling it a “classic” already, but that’s AEW announcers always acting as if everything is the best thing ever. Garcia and Yuta got into a slapfest that looked so lame, but the fans got into it as Garcia slapped Yuta hard in the face. It’s also because ROH Pure matches don’t have punches, so they have to do open handed slapping instead. Garcia with a double leg takedown into the Dragon Tamer (Sharpshooter or Scorpion Deathlock) in the middle of the ring, but Yuta crawled to the ropes to use his first rope break. Chris Jericho was shown watching on a TV backstage. The fans booed because they wanted Garcia to win. Yuta punched Garcia so the referee and got a warning about it because you aren’t allowed to punch in a Pure match. Garcia applied the Dragon Tamer again, then Yuta got out of it and hooked the arms into a pin attempt for two. Yuta tried a submission, Garcia kicked out of it and Garcia applied the Dragon Tamer while bridging back. Yuta pulled on Garcia’s neck, but Garcia applied pressure and Yuta tapped out to give Garcia the win. The fans popped big for it. It went 16 minutes.

Winner by submission AND NEW ROH Pure Champion: Daniel Garcia

Analysis: ***1/2 It was a very entertaining, technical wrestling match by two talented young guys. Garcia winning the title was the right call, but I wouldn’t call it some exciting match or anything like that. The ending was good with the submission attempts by Garcia and Yuta fought it off as best he could, but Yuta tapped out to give Garcia the win. They worked hard and I liked their chemistry. I just don’t think it was the classic that Excalibur tried to say that it was.

Post match, Yuta celebrated with the ROH Pure Title and some confetti was in the ring. Bryan Danielson went into the ring as Yuta shook hands with Garcia. Danielson put the ROH Pure Title around Garcia’s waist.

Chris Jericho walked out onto the stage as Bryan shook hands with Garcia. Jericho was not happy about what he was seeing as Bryan raised Garcia’s hand and Jericho was complaining about it. That was the end of the show.

Analysis: That continued the story of Jericho being mad that Garcia likes Bryan as his idol and Jericho wants Garcia to be loyal to the Jericho Appreciation Society instead. It’s decent as a storyline.

Three Stars of the Show

1. Bryan Danielson
2. Daniel Garcia
3. “Hangman Adam Page/Death Triangle

Welcome back to MJF as well. I missed him.

The Scoreboard

This Week: 8 out of 10

Last Week: 7.75

Final Thoughts

This was a great wrestling show from an in-ring perspective due to three terrific matches, so I rated it highly. I enjoyed the show for the most part thanks to those standout matches. The big news is that they didn’t mention former AEW World Champion CM Punk or former AEW World Trios Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks & Kenny Omega at all. I guess AEW just assumes the audience knows that they got into a fight and were not on the show. I did enjoy MJF’s promo quite as well as Moxley’s “I’m proud to be in AEW” style promo. It was funny hearing Moxley say he was supposed to be on vacation, but he was on the show instead probably because the boss wanted one of his top guys there.

There was an outstanding match between Bryan Danielson and “Hangman” Adam Page that I loved. That’s their third standout match together with Bryan beating page for the first time. I hope Danielson is the next AEW World Champion. The Trios Tag Team Title match was an exciting, chaotic spotfest that led to Death Triangle becoming the new champions. As for the main event of Daniel Garcia beating Wheeler Yuta, it was a good match. The problem with title changes is there are so many titles between AEW, ROH and other promotions on this show that it’s tough to make us care when we see so many titles around. I don’t think it was the classic that the announcers try to make it out to be, but AEW announcers always overreact to matches.

If you are into watching wrestling more for the stories more than the matches then there’s not that much to get excited about. In AEW’s defense, there was a lot of chaos surrounding the backstage fight at All Out that caused them to put on some matches with no storyline. For one final thought, it would be nice if they cared more about the women’s division because the women’s match was bad and short. They could put a little more effort into trying to care about women’s wrestling just a bit more. That’s all.

—

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

John Canton

Email: mrjohncanton@gmail.com

Twitter: @johnreport