The John Report: AEW Dynamite – The Crossroads 03/03/21 Review
Welcome to the AEW Dynamite review here on TJRWrestling. The Revolution pay-per-view takes place this Sunday, March 7th, so this is the go-home show for it.
This is AEW Dynamite from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, FL. Follow me on Twitter @johnreport. Here’s my AEW Dynamite TV review archive. Let’s get to it.
The Dynamite opening video aired. That was followed by Jim Ross with the usual opening line: “It’s Wednesday night, and you know what that means.” There were about 1,000 fans making some noise too. Cody Rhodes made his entrance first with the coach Arn Anderson. Cody’s tag team partner Red Velvet was up next, who is introduced as: “Straight out of your mama’s kitchen.” They showed highlights of this match being built up with JR claiming it was an “amazing story.” Not really an amazing story, but the announcers tend to overrate the stories in this company. The announcers were Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone and Excalibur as usual.
Jade Cargill made her entrance for her first match. She got pyro for her entrance. She is in incredible shape. Next up was the NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal at an announced weight of 365 pounds and he’s 7 feet tall in case you don’t know. Shaq is one of the most recognizable athletes in the entire world as Tony pointed out and Shaq looked monstrous in the ring.
Analysis: It’s an interesting call to put them on first, but I think it’s a smart strategy for people that care about television ratings a lot. If they put it in the main event it could have done well too, but starting with this match is fine too. My understanding about this match is that Shaq lives in the Atlanta area since he works for the NBA on TNT in the Atlanta studios twice a week and he’s trained to wrestle this match with Cody and QT Marshall at the Nightmare Factory gym in the same area. The girls have been there too. In other words, they had weeks to practice this match, which is smart because you don’t want to go in without being prepared. Shaq is 48 years old, turns 49 on March 6 and this is his first wrestling match that isn’t a battle royal.
Shaquille O’Neal and Jade Cargill vs. Cody Rhodes and Red Velvet (w/Arn Anderson and QT Marshall)
The men started with Shaq shoving Cody down when Cody tried to do an armbar since Shaq is about one foot taller than Cody. There were chops from Cody, then Shaq came back with chops to the chest and a punch to the back. Shaq with a whip into the ropes leading to a back body drop. Shaq with a knee to the ribs. Shaq with another chop, but hen Jade tagged herself in so that meant Velvet was legal too. Jade with a jumping kick on Velvet. Velvet fought back with a kick to the knee and a spin kick. Jade tossed Velvet across the ring followed by Jade doing some pushups to show how athletic she is. Jade with a whip into the turnbuckle, Velvet with a boot and Velvet jumped with a cross body block, but Jade caught Velvet. Jade with a fallaway slam followed by a kip up. Jade got in Cody’s face, so Cody kicked Shaq off the apron since Cody can’t hit Jade. Shaq backed into Austin Gunn in the crowd, Austin hit him with a chair for some reason (really?) and Shaq slammed Austin onto the floor. Shaq with a body slam on Colten Gunn as well. Thank you Shaq for this. Am I supposed to hate him? Those guys are annoying. Anyway, Red Velvet went up top and hit a moonsault onto Jade and also hit Cody, who was nice enough to bump for his own partner. Jade with a weak-looking boot to the gut and Jade slapped on a Figure Four Leglock while also flexing and Velvet turned it over. This didn’t look very good in terms of selling. Jade tripped Velvet. Jade pulled a table out from under the ring and set it up on the floor. The referee Bryce Remsburg didn’t count while Jade was on the floor because it’s AEW. The refs suck. Velvet sent Jade face first into table and Jade went into the ring. Velvet pulled out another table, which she set up beside the other table. It took way too long and the referee didn’t count her either because once again the refs suck. Velvet was back in the ring with a spin kick to the face of Jade.
Cody tagged in against Shaq, who flexed to show off the muscles. Cody with a kick to the gut, but Shaq hit a knee lift and Shaq hit a huge Powerbomb. That’s a great move for Shaq to do because it’s a safe bump. Cody barely sold the Powerbomb because he got right up with a punch to the face followed by a body slam on the big guy. It wasn’t a pretty slam because of how big Shaq is. Cody got a two count with Shaq powering out of it. The women were back in throwing strikes, then Shaq was standing in the way of the hardcam, so the referee had to go over to him to tell him to stand on the other side so he’s not blocking the hard cam. That made me laugh at least. Velvet ran right into a spinebuster from Jade. Cody broke up a pin attempt. Shaq missed a punch, Cody with an eye poke and Cody jumped over the top with a cross body block on Shaq that sent both of them through the tables below, so Shaq landed back first through two tables. There’s your big spot of the match with the announcers getting very excited about it. Jade was shocked by it, Velvet hit a Spear for two that the director missed because they were shooting the guys on the floor. Oops. Jade countered some slam attempt, hooked the arms and hit a sitout slam like Glam Slam for the pinfall win after 12 minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Shaquille O’Neal and Jade Cargill
Analysis: ** It was a passable match involving a celebrity teaming up with a woman in her first match. Shaq was only in the ring for a few minutes and he did solid work with Cody, who sold for the big man well. The women’s action wasn’t that great by any means because of Jade’s lack of experience. The finish could have been a lot better, but the goal of this was to put over Jade and that’s what they did. They totally missed Velvet’s nearfall after the Spear too. I was disappointed in some aspects of the match. What’s the point of Shaq doing a Powerbomb if it was going to be no-sold by Cody right after? If you want to get a move over as devastating, please sell it for more than five seconds. The Austin Gunn chair spot to Shaq was ridiculous too, but it was just done to have Shaq beat up some random losers. Anyway, the big thing was Shaq doing the table bump, which visually looks impressive although it’s not like it will hurt a 300+ pound man that much. I would consider this match a success in that they got through it, but it’s not like it is some awesome match either.
Jade celebrated the win while Shaq was out on the floor laying on the table. Shaq was taking a nap, basically, to sell the table spot. At least he sold unlike Cody with the Powerbomb in the match. They went to break.
(Commercial)
They replayed the table spot again and showed the finish of the match.
Shaq was loaded into an ambulance, which is ridiculous, but that’s what they did. That was during the break. Tony Schiavone was back by the ambulance, he opened the door and Shaq was gone.
Rey Fenix and Pac vs. John Skyler and D3
Fenix hit a superkick on D3 on the apron. Pac and Fenix kicked Skyler repeatedly to knock him down. Fenix walked across the top with a kick on D3. Pac with a twisting dive over the top onto D3. Fenix slammed Skyler and Pac hit a 450 Splash on Skyler. Fenix hit a sitout driver on Skyler to win this match in about two minutes.
Winners by pinfall: Rey Fenix and Pac
Analysis: 1/2* A squash match to put over two of my favorite guys in AEW. Fenix lost to Lance Archer in the main event last week, so I guess they felt like he needed a win here. Fine with me.
There were still pictures from last week when Chris Jericho and MJF beat up the Young Bucks father.
Chris Jericho and Maxwell Jacob Friedman made their entrance with other Inner Circle members. The crowd was singing Jericho’s “Judas” theme song. That led to a break.
(Commercial)
There was a podium in the ring and they had “media members” on the floor asking questions. Dasha was helping run the press conference.
Chris Jericho and MJF Press Conference
Some guy I don’t know tried asking a question, but the microphone wasn’t working. He said something about what the AEW Tag Team Titles meant to them. Jericho thanked Barstool Sports for being there while adding that he is Le Champion. Jericho said that it has been one year since he lost the AEW World Title and it’s time that he has a championship again. Jericho reminded us that he’s a 7-time World Tag Team Champion with some of the biggest names in the business as his partner including Dwayne Johnson and Paul Wight. Jericho said that none of them are better than MJF, so it’s time for them to beat the hell out of the Young Bucks like they did to their stupid father.
The big man Conrad Thompson is next. He does podcasts that are very successful and I enjoy a lot, but he is a mortgage guy. Apparently, he’s part of the media for this segment. Conrad said he was from Grilling JR while asking what are the odds of letting Sammy Guevara back in the Inner Circle. MJF called him “turkey tits” and Jericho told Thompson he didn’t want to hear Sammy’s name again. Jericho told Thompson to “go back to Nebraska.” Conrad is from Alabama, so Jericho screwing it up is part of his schtick.
Next up was Brandon Walker from Barstool Sports, who asked why they attacked Papa Buck last week. MJF said that Papa Buck attacked Jericho, so what they did was an act of self-defense. MJF said: “It’s true.” Interesting. Anyway, MJF complained about Papa Buck getting blood on his expensive suit while adding that he doesn’t shop at Target and Baby Gap like you do. MJF ripped on Matt and Nick while taking a shot at Nick’s hair too. Santana called Papa Buck a “bitch ass pops” while noting that there isn’t a line that the Inner Circle won’t cross.
The next media member was Eric Bischoff of the 83 Weeks podcast as Easy E made another AEW cameo here. Eric asked if Chris knows the condition of Papa Buck. Eric wondered if it was smart for Chris to fire up the Young Bucks like this and called it a stupid idea. Jericho said they didn’t care about Papa Buck. Chris mentioned the Young Bucks, who made their entrance.
The Young Bucks duo of Matt and Nick Jackson walked out with the AEW Tag Team Titles. Nick said he knew once this started, they knew they would try to hurt them and their fans, but they had no idea that Inner Circle would harm their father. Matt said that their dad is the greatest father in the world that taught them to be the men they are today, he taught them about faith and family and loved them. Nick said that he did what Chris and MJF’s fathers apparently failed at. Matt said that when their father couldn’t afford to put them through college, he improvised and built a backyard wrestling ring with his bare hands. Matt said that their father taught them not let others do the work for you. Matt said that spirit is what created the Young Bucks, Being the Elite and this company. Matt said that without their dad, there would be no Young Bucks or AEW. (I would like to interject that Tony Khan’s rich daddy money helped the creation of AEW too! Thanks Mr. Khan.) Matt said that means that Max would be living with his parents waiting for a call from the Rosie O’Donnell show. Matt said Chris would be jerking the curtain tonight at the Performance Center. That led to an “ooohhh” reaction from them. Matt said that their dad also told them to stand up for themselves, so that led to a double superkick.
The fight was on with Young Bucks fighting the Inner Circle and their friend the jobber Brandon Cutler was helping them. Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows set up a table on the stage to help the Young Bucks. Nick hit a dive off the entrance onto Ortiz through a table while Matt jumped off the stage onto Santana through another table. Jericho and MJF were off in a distance making angry faces.
Analysis: There’s the payback for the Young Bucks after the heels attacked their dad last week. Some good promo work from Jericho, MJF and Matt Jackson there. The line about the Performance Center was pretty funny although if Jericho was in WWE he’d be in the ThunderDome, but that’s okay. Jokes are meant to be silly. The duo of Anderson and Gallows are heels when they are with Kenny Omega, yet they are faces when helping the Young Bucks. I know it’s about the past history with them, but it’s just weird how inconsistent some of these stories are. The table spots were great. They should have replayed them from different angles too, yet that wasn’t shown.
There was a video about Kenny Omega’s Barbed Wired Death Match AEW World Title defense against Jon Moxley. The video featured Japanese wrestling legend Atsushi Onita talking about it with translation on the screen. They showed some video of what the ring would look like with barbed wire instead of the ropes. Moxley said if this is the end his career then he can’t think of a better way to go.
Analysis: That was all for Moxley and Omega on this show. I don’t think Moxley was there in person. Omega likely was backstage all night since he is an Executive Vice President in AEW.
FTR entered Tully Blanchard in wrestling gear including a robe and the old US Title around his waist. Tully brought old Four Horsemen manager JJ Dillon with him as well.
(Commercial)
The Jurassic Express trio made their entrance.
FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler) and Tully Blanchard (w/JJ Dillon) vs. Jurassic Express (Luchasaurus, Jungle Boy and Marko Stunt)
Blanchard is 67 years old and this was his first match in 32 years. Tully beat up Stunt with punches and kicks. Harwood battled boy with strikes from both guys and Harwood hit a shoulder tackle. Boy with a dropkick on Harwood and Wheeler. Boy with a clothesline on Harwood, a German Suplex on Wheeler and Boy slapped on the Snare Trap submission, but Wheeler pulled Boy out of the ring. Boy put the Snare Trap on Wheeler on the floor with Wheeler (who is not the legal man) tapping out on the floor while the referee left the ring. Dillon gave Harwood his shoe and Harwood hit Boy with the shoe to the face for two. Tully ran the ropes as if he was doing a dive, but then he stopped and strutted, which was funny. Harwood sent Boy into the barricade.
(Commercial)
The match returned with Boy hitting a back suplex. Wheeler slammed Boy back first into the turnbuckle. Wheeler went for a splash off the ropes, but Boy got the feet up to block. Luchasaurus tagged in with punches, chops, kicks and an uppercut on Wheeler. Luchasaurus tossed Stunt onto Blanchard for Tully’s first bump of the match. Luchasaurus kicked to avoid an attack from FTR and Luchasaurus hit a double German Suplex on both FTR guys. Harwood escaped a Chokeslam attempt, Harwood avoided a corner splash. Boy in illegally with a hurricanrana into a powerslam for a two count. Boy tagged in, Wheeler pulled Luchasaurus out of the ring and hit a Tornado DDT on the floor, so Boy hit a baseball slide dropkick on Wheeler on the floor. Boy with some strikes to FTR guys including Tully, but then Wheeler tagged in as Dax hit a superplex followed by a Wheeler splash off the top for two. Wheeler with two suplexes back to back. Marko saved Boy. Tully hit a slingshot suplex on Stunt with the crowd reacting to that with a pop. Luchasaurus grabbed Tully by the throat and then Luchasaurus hit a spin kick to Tully, who got his hands up to block, but at least he sold it. Luchasaurus lifted Wheeler into a Powerbomb by Boy for two. Boy went for a suicide dive, but some guy dressed in an AEW hoodie punched him. The guy hit Luchasaurus with some object. FTR held up Luchasaurus in position and Tully jumped off the ropes for the Spike Piledriver for the pinfall win by Tully after 12 minutes.
Winners by pinfall: FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler) and Tully Blanchard
Analysis: ***1/2 That was a very good tag team match with a cheap finish due to the mystery attacker. I thought the FTR guys were incredible here as usual as they set up the big spots and worked Tully into the match perfectly. Tully only took a couple of bumps, which is smart considering his age. I’m actually surprised that Stunt wasn’t the loser for his team since he’s usually the guy that gets pinned in their tag team matches. The Jurassic Express team is very popular with the team, yet they are rarely booked as a strong team or threats to contend for tag team titles. They could be utilized better.
The mystery guy went into the ring with the victors to reveal that it was Shawn Spears with a new blonde mohawk. Spears hugged FTR and Tully as the group all put their hands together. Arn Anderson walked onto the stage to see what happened. Anderson held up the four fingers of the Four Horsemen. JJ Dillon signaled that to Arn as well.
Analysis: Shawn Spears was doing nothing for months, so now he’s back in the mix. I don’t know about a Four Horsemen because there’s only three active wrestlers there, but perhaps they can add a fourth guy to it. Maybe this will help Spears get going again. FTR is my favorite team in the company, so being around them will help Spears. It also means yet another stable in AEW. There are a lot of them.
Paul Wight Interview
Paul Wight made his entrance making his AEW big show debut with Tony Schiavone interviewing him. Yeah, I went there. Wight has a shirt that said “No More BS” on it. That’s clever, I guess. They were on the ramp. Wight said that Tony has known him since he had long hair and a bright future. Wight said he was happy to be in AEW. The fans cheered for him. Wight said he started out on TNT, now he’s back on TNT and he looks forward to working with the talent in AEW. Wight said that he’ll host a new AEW show (Mondays on Youtube) called Elevation where he can do some color commentating on some amazing AEW talent. Wight said that Tony is not the only one that gets the big scoops. Wight said that he had the biggest scoop ever. Wight claimed that this Sunday at Evolution (he meant to say Revolution), AEW is going to “hire, put in contract, a Hall of Fame worthy talent that is a huge surprise and a huge asset to AEW.” Show said it’s “not who you think,” but this Sunday you’ll find out. Wight reminded us we can find out on Sunday at revolution, but he let us know that he knew first. That ended.
Analysis: I’ll be in honest in telling you that I wrote “Show” instead of “Wight” at least three times in that writeup before I corrected it. I’ve probably reviewed thousands of this guy’s matches. Anyway, it’s good to see Wight in AEW and I wonder how long it will take for him to wrestle Shaq. Maybe at one of the PPVs this year. Anyway, the “Hall of Fame worthy talent” that they are going to hire is interesting. I feel like it’ll be something like Kurt Angle in a managerial role and maybe he’ll work backstage, but I’m not sure about an active wrestler. Some people might guess that it’s CM Punk (a popular choice on Twitter) although I have my doubts about that. It’s really up to Punk on if he would want to do it and nobody really knows. Punk could get a huge payday wherever he went, though. I guess we’ll find out at Revolution on Sunday.
There were highlights shown of the Women’s World Title Eliminator tournament.
Nyla Rose made her entrance with Vickie Guerrero. Nyla is 5-0 in 2021 and is a former AEW Women’s Champion. The AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida was ringside with the title. Ryo Mizunami entered as the winner of the Japan side of the tournament. I didn’t watch any matches except for the matches on Dynamite. The other matches were on Youtube.
AEW Women’s World Title Eliminator Tournament Finals: Nyla Rose (w/Vickie Guerrero) vs. Ryo Mizunami
The winner will challenge AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida at Revolution on Sunday.
Ryo with a shoulder tackle attempt, but Rose wasn’t budging at all. Ryo with forearms, then she ran the ropes and Rose with a shoulder tackle. Ryo with a back body drop. Ryo with a running forearm, then some light chops, Ryo did some unique dance moves and some mime work for some reason. Ryo hit a running clothesline for a one count. Ryo ran right into a superkick by Rose, who followed up with a senton splash for two. Rose with a powerslam for two.
(Commercial)
Ryo went for a body slam, but Rose countered into a body slam. Rose went up top with a Senton Bomb attempt and Ryo moved out of the way to avoid it. Ryo sent Rose to the apron followed by a shoulder tackle knocking Rose off the apron. Ryo tripped up Rose on the apron and then Ryo hit a leg drop off the turnbuckle on the apron and then the director cut away to miss Rose bumping to the floor. The director is missing too many shots. The referee Aubrey Edwards counted Rose out of the ring unlike most referees in this company and Ryo hit a leg drop off the ropes for two. Ryo and Rose exchanged clotheslines, Ryo with uppercuts and then Rose hit a clothesline. Rose hit a Death Valley Driver for two. Rose set up Ryo across the top rope and Rose hit a diving knee to the back for just two. Good nearfall there. Ryo came back with an Exploder Suplex. Ryo went up top, Rose met her there and Rose hit a superplex. Ryo hit a German Suplex followed by a Spear. Ryo went up top and hit the guillotine leg drop for the pinfall win after 13 minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Ryo Mizunami
Analysis: *** This was a hard-hitting match with some big spots that had a strong finish. Rose got in a lot more offense because she was the loser here, so it made Ryo look impressive because she took a lot, yet she came back for the win. Good offense by Ryo to finish off Rose with a German Suplex, Spear and leg drop off the top. Ryo looked impressive.
Post match, Hikaru Shida presented Mizunami with the trophy for winning the Women’s tournament. They will face off for Shida’s title at Revolution. Shida and Mizunami shook hands, then Mizunami hit her with a forearm, so Shida hit her with more forearms to knock Mizunami on her ass. That ended it.
Analysis: I would have preferred Britt Baker as the tournament winner, but it’s not up to me. I just feel like she’s the most deserving due to how talented she is as an overall performer.
(Commercial)
Let’s Hear from Sting
Sting was introduced for an interview with Tony Schiavone in the ring. Sting teams with Darby Allin against Brian Cage and Ricky Starks in a Street Fight at Revolution on Sunday.
Tony told Sting that he never looked better, which is a blatant lie that you tell a friend. Sting said that two weeks ago he thought he was ready and he found out the hard way that he wasn’t ready. Sting thanked Brian Cage for Powerbombing him through the ring. Sting said that shook off all the rust. Sting made it clear that he was ready for a Street Fight.
Ricky Starks showed up with a microphone saying he was out there own accord. Starks said that every week they’ve been going back and forth, but last week they saw Sting tear this ring up. Starks said we saw fire from Sting and he’s man enough to admit that Sting’s still got it. Starks stands behind what he says in that Sting is not an icon. Starks slapped Sting, so Sting punched him and hit a clothesline. Sting with a Stinger Splash on Starks followed by the Scorpion Deathlock submission. Starks was tapping out. Will Hobbs and Taz’s son Hook saved Starks. Brian Cage showed up to attack Sting, but then Darby Allin ran out there and jumped on Cage. Sting hit a Stinger Splash on the back of Cage. Allin hit a missile dropkick on Cage to send him out of the ring. Team Taz retreated as Sting and Allin stood tall in the ring.
Analysis: This was a basic pro wrestling segment to set up the PPV match. It’s pretty standard to have an interview, then the heel interruption, then the face stands tall until multiple heels attack and then the other face makes the save. We have seen it many times before. It works, though, so that’s fine. I think Sting and Allin should win at Revolution because that’s the right story for the faces, but it could go either way.
(Commercial)
Dark Order member Ten made his entrance with his Dark Order allies including the kid Negative One that is the leader of the Dark Order now. Scorpio Sky was on commentary since he’s competing in the Ladder Match at Revolution that these wrestlers are competing to qualify for the match. Max Caster did one of his pre-match raps talking trash.
Face of the Revolution Ladder Match Qualifying Match: Max Caster vs. Ten
Ten with a rollup for two. Sky said that these guys couldn’t beat him in a regular match, but in a Ladder Match anybody has a shot. Ten with a clothesline. Ten with a shoulder tackle followed by a cross body block. Ten worked over Caster with punches followed by a clothesline over the top to the floor. Ten charged at Caster, who managed to send Ten into the ring post.
(Commercial)
The match returned with Ten hitting two clotheslines and a back body drop. Caster ran right into a spinebuster by Ten. Caster sent Ten to the apron with Ten hitting a Spear for a two count. Caster with an arm drag into an armbar and Ten got his foot on the ropes to break it. Caster with a brainbuster. Caster went up top with an elbow drop, but Ten moved and Caster hit the mat. Ten with a Powerbomb to block a move from Caster, which was good for a two count. Caster sent Ten into the middle ropes, then Ten distracted the referee and Jack Evans appeared out of nowhere with a boombox shot to Ten that the referee didn’t see. Caster pinned Ten for the pinfall win after nine minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Max Caster
Analysis: **1/4 It was just an average match. There was a lot of offense for Ten since he was the loser, so they wanted him to look good even in defeat. Caster is a tag team wrestler normally and now he’s in the Ladder Match. I doubt he’s going to win the Ladder Match.
After the match, Matt Hardy handed Evans an envelope that said $4,200 on it, so Hardy paid Evans because Hardy wants to take out everybody in the Dark Order group.
The announcers ran down the Revolution card for Sunday night on pay-per-view in this order:
* Buy-In Pre-Show Match: Dr. Britt Baker & Reba vs. Riho & Thunder Rosa
* Miro and Kip Sabian vs. Chuck Taylor and Orange Cassidy – Miro said that everybody that is tired of Miro playing games will get their wish. Maybe they will book him to be serious.
* Face of the Revolution Ladder Match: Cody Rhodes, Penta El Zero, Scorpio Sky, Lance Archer, Max Caster and one more wrestler.
* Paul Wight makes an announcement about AEW’s next major signing
* AEW Women’s Championship: Hikaru Shida (c) vs. Ryo Mizunami
* Big Money Match: Matt Hardy vs. “Hangman” Adam Page
* Street Fight: Brian Cage and Ricky Starks (w/Taz) vs. Sting and Darby Allin
* Casino Tag Team Battle Royale: Pac & Rey Fenix, John Silver & Alex Reynolds, Evil Uno & Stu Grayson, Private Party, The Butcher & The Blade, Santana & Ortiz, Top Flight, Bear Country
* AEW Tag Team Championships: The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) (c) vs. The Inner Circle’s Chris Jericho and MJF
* AEW World Championship Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match: Kenny Omega (c) vs. Jon Moxley
Analysis: That’s the full card. I think there will be some great matches. We will have a preview on TJRWrestling on Saturday morning and then I’ll review it live on Sunday night as well.
Matt Hardy and Marq Quen made their entrance for the main event. John Silver of the Dark Order made his entrance with other Dark Order members. Nice ovation for “Hangman” Adam Page as Silver’s partner.
Analysis: This doesn’t feel like a main event level match to me, but here we are.
John Silver and “Hangman” Adam Page vs. Matt Hardy and Marq Quen
Silver with a takedown on Quen and then Hardy got in a cheap shot to the ribs. Hardy sent Silver into the ropes, Page tagged in and Hardy shoved Silver into Page, so Silver hugged Page. Quen tagged in because Hardy refused to face off with Page. They went to break.
(Commercial)
There were less than ten minutes left in the show as they returned with Quen sending Silver to the apron and Hardy hit a Side Effect slam on the ring apron. The referee never saw it. Hardy was the legal man as he worked over Silver with punches. The announcers were really pushing the PPV hard with JR claiming he had never seen a lineup like this before, which is a bit much, but that’s what their announcers do. Hardy jumped off the ropes onto Silver, who hit Hardy with a shot to the ribs. Silver hit a standing Sliced Bread neckbreaker on Hardy to break free. Page tagged in against Quen with clotheslines and a huge spinebuster. Hardy avoided Page’s attack again, then Quen did a pump kick that missed Page and hit Hardy off the apron. Page with a fallaway slam on Quen and then a slingshot attack over the top on Hardy. Back in, Quen ran the ropes and Page hit a Death Valley Driver slam onto the neck of Quen. Page tossed Quen into his corner, he wanted to face Hardy, but Big Money Matt bailed to the floor. Page with a kick to Quen, then Quen with a dropkick to the knee and Hardy finally faced off against Page with Matt hitting a neckbreaker. Page countered a Twist of Fate with a belly-to-back suplex on Hardy. Silver tagged in and hit a Spear on Matt followed by punches. Silver with a backslide, then kicks to the body and a brainbuster for two. Hardy with a belly-to-back suplex on Silver. Quen tagged in, jumped off and hit a missile dropkick. Silver with a kick, Page tagged in, Page with a Popup Powerbomb, Silver with a German Suplex and Page hit the Buckshot Lariat on Quen for the pinfall win after about 11 minutes. Hardy backed out of the ring instead of trying to save his partner.
Winners by pinfall: John Silver and “Hangman” Adam Page
Analysis: **1/2 It was average tag team wrestling. It followed the usual tag team formula with Silver in the role of the face in peril and Page as the babyface on fire getting the hot tag. Quen looked like the sacrificial lamb that wasn’t on the level of the other guys while Hardy was the cheap heel that backed away from Page every time he could.
After the match, Hardy attacked Page and Silver with a microphone. Hardy said that this was just a setup and Hardy told Page he won’t make it to Revolution while John Silver won’t make it to Revolution either. Dark Order ran out for the save. Other tag teams ran out to the ring because they’re in the Tag Team Battle Royal match. The ring was full of wrestlers brawling. Pac and Rey Fenix were the last guys to enter, so they are in the tag team battle royal as well. The show ended with wrestlers brawling and the announcers acting as if they have never seen an ending like that before.
Analysis: It’s AEW. They love ending the show with wild brawling like that. It happens every two or three weeks.
Three Stars of the Show
- Shaquille O’Neal
- FTR and Tully Blanchard
- Adam Page and John Silver
The Scoreboard
This Week: 7 out of 10
Last Week: 7.75
2021 Average: 7.39
Final Thoughts
It was a solid episode of Dynamite this week. I just don’t know if I can say anything that happened on this show really built up my anticipation for Revolution on Sunday. The main thing I’ll take away from it is being impressed by some of the bumps from Shaquille O’Neal because seeing a man of Shaq’s size going through two tables is pretty cool. Shaq was also there to help bring more attention to AEW, I’m sure his presence helped to some degree. Also, Tully Blanchard did well for a guy in his 60s and it was smart that he only took a couple of bumps. However, neither of those things helps my interest in Revolution. The Sting/Allin segment was pretty much the usual angle you’d expect to hype up their PPV match. I did like the Jericho/MJF and Young Bucks segment that did make their rivalry feel more personal.
I was disappointed by the lack of Jon Moxley and Kenny Omega on the show. Maybe AEW felt like they weren’t needed because they have been on past shows and they did a Revolution special on TNT last night too. I just think they could have done more than a two-minute video hyping the match.
The match quality was below the high standards of the usual AEW show. The main event this week wasn’t close to as good as we got last week. I guess it’s okay to not go crazy on the big matches every week. I think that’s because they know they are going to have awesome matches at Revolution on Sunday. We’ll have a preview on Saturday and I’ll review it on Sunday night.
The next AEW pay-per-view is Revolution on Sunday, March 7. Here’s what we know so far.
AEW World Championship Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match: Kenny Omega (c) vs. Jon Moxley
Street Fight: Brian Cage and Ricky Starks (w/Taz) vs. Sting and Darby Allin
AEW Tag Team Championships: The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) (c) vs. The Inner Circle’s Chris Jericho and MJF
Big Money Match: Matt Hardy vs. “Hangman” Adam Page
AEW Women’s Championship: Hikaru Shida (c) vs. Ryo Mizunami
Face of the Revolution Ladder Match: Cody Rhodes, Penta El Zero, Scorpio Sky, Lance Archer, Max Caster and one more wrestler.
Miro and Kip Sabian vs. Chuck Taylor and Orange Cassidy
Casino Tag Team Battle Royale: Pac & Rey Fenix, John Silver & Alex Reynolds, Evil Uno & Stu Grayson, Private Party, The Butcher & The Blade, Santana & Ortiz, Top Flight, Bear Country
Buy-In Pre-Show Match: Dr. Britt Baker & Reba vs. Riho & Thunder Rosa
—
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