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AEW DYNAMITE ON-SITE REPORT
OCTOBER 4, 2023
SACRAMENTO, CALIF. AT STOCKTON ARENA
REPORT BY TED, PWTORCH CORRESPONDENT
-After Dynamite went off the air on TBS, Nick Wayne and Luchasaurus charged at Adam Copeland and he gave them both spears. That got a huge pop from the crowd.
-There were a lot of talking segments and it was frustrating at times, but overall there was enough wrestling because two main matches were really good and the crowd was really into them. The crowd was especially into Kenny Omega.
-The best crowd reactions of the night went to Copeland by far, then Omega, MJF, and Wardlow. Rey Fenix got a really good pop as the first babyface of the Dynamite portion. Nick Jackson is a Southern California guy so he wasn’t seen as a “hometown babyface.” When there were dueling chants, Fenix got much louder chants than Nick. The crowd was into Billy Gunn and Toni Storm, too. It was a slow start for Toni as the crowd seemed perplexed by what was going on, but then the crowd cheered loudly for her by the end. The Gunns and Juice were getting great heel heat.
-They pushed the live crowd that they’d be Oakland next week for a combined Rampage/Collision taping.
-It was a good night. I was fifth row in the lower deck. I paid $60, but if I had waited until today I could have gotten the same tickets for $20.
-It’s a small arena, with a capacity in the 10,500-12,000 range. The 100 section was about 60 percent full and the floor was completely sold out. It’s a great venue because you’re close to the action no matter where you’re sitting. It doesn’t feel like a hot product, so I worry about AEW’s long-term viability. There were times, because of the size of the crowd, you could hear one person yelling something throughout the venue.
-Tony Khan came out after the dark match before Dynamite, he thanked people for coming. Then after Dynamite and before Rampage, he came out and implored everyone to stay. Since it’s early on the West Coast, almost everyone stuck around for the Rampage taping.
-The phrases that were bleeped: Christian told Copeland to “go f— yourself.” Copeland said Christian was “more of a dick than usual.” After they went to commercial during the Toni Storm match, she yelled, “It’s time to slap some tits” before she began chopping her opponent. One of the chops was ridiculously loud and she said, “That really hurt.”
-Smackdown was in Sacramento, Calif. last week and they had a crowd maybe close to 14,000. That could have affected ticket sales tonight with people choosing between the two events.
RAMPAGE TAPING RESULTS
(1) The Hardys & The Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent Berreta) beat Daniel Garcia & Jake Hager & Angelo Parker & Matt Menard when Jeff pinned Garcia.
(2) Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta pummeled two opponents and won a squash. Claudio launched Yuta for a giant splash for the win.
(3) Kris Statlander & Hikaru Shida beat Nyla Rose & Maria Shafir when Shida pinned Shafir. It got a little sloppy toward the end. Shida got the best reaction of anyone on the Rampage tapings.
(4) Kommander beat Penta, Lince Dorado, and Johnny TV (w/The QTV crew) in a four-way match to earn a future title shot. Alex Abrahantes came out twice separately with both Penta and Kommander. Alex got the crowd riled up during the match.
RECOMMENDED NEXT: AEW DYNAMITE HITS & MISSES (10/5): WrestleDream follow-up including Adam Copeland, Callis Family Values, Jay White-MJF, Rey Fenix, Audio Glitch
OR CHECK THIS OUT AT PROWRESTLING.NET: AEW Dynamite results (10/4): Powell’s live review of Adam Copeland’s debut, Rey Fenix vs. Nick Jackson for the AEW International Title, Konosuke Takeshita and Kyle Fletcher vs. Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho
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