SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
INTRO
AEW Dynamite will be live tonight from Norfolk, Virginia where “Hangman” Adam Page gets his opportunity to advance to Double or Nothing against Will Ospreay in the finals of the Owen Hart Tournament. The only person standing in his way: Kyle Fletcher.
While I expect Fletcher to put up a spirited fight, another Fletcher-Ospreay match so soon after their epic cage encounter wouldn’t make much sense. Alas, I think tonight marks the end of the Callis Family’s journey in the Owen.
Elsewhere on the card there’s a huge eight man tag. Just ask Tony Schiavone. MJF, The Hurt Syndicate, and Toni Storm are all scheduled to be in attendance. The build to Double or Nothing has begun in earnest; don’t believe me, just watch.
Make ‘Em Go Huh?
Latest Developments
A match for tonight and Beach Break were set up and the groundwork was laid for the annual Anarchy in the Arena match in the two prong top story in AEW.
Analysis
Master P made his first appearance in a wrestling ring in 25 years. He opened the show before quickly being joined by the Opps. Samoa Joe put over P’s charity work in the New Orleans community. He then immediately pivoted to accepting Mox’s challenge for a title match. That’s when the Death Riders hit the ring. They quickly overwhelmed the Opps yet somehow in the fracas Master P remained untouched.
Eventually Mox turned his attention to the rap legend but before any physicality could occur, Joe recovered and locked Mox in the Coquina Clutch. Master P attempted to get some shots in but his punches looked terrible. The Bucks hit the ring with chairs to help The Death Riders. That brought out Swerve. As the Bucks attempted to bail up the ramp, Kenny Omega appeared to cut them off and force them to evacuate through the crowd.
This was a mostly well-executed, productive segment. Master P just felt wildly out of place. I have no problem with promoting his charity and the New Orleans crowd loved him, but he didn’t feel like he belonged in this segment. He particularly stuck out when Death Riders attacked and he was conveniently untouched. If you’re old enough to remember his time on WCW Nitro in 1999 with the No Limit Soldiers, you remember that he never took a bump ever. The West Texas Rednecks basically got no heat because Master P and his crew wouldn’t sell. It’s no surprise then that he didn’t actually get physical. His punches were awful though, and only surpassed in their terribleness by Naomi’s punches on Smackdown.
Outside of Master P, this segment officially set up Joe challenging Mox. Surprisingly, it was set for Beach Break in two weeks as opposed to Double or Nothing. Based on that and the number of people involved in the skirmish, it seems obvious that an Anarchy in the Arena match pitting The Opps, Swerve, and Omega against The Death Riders and The Bucks.
I’m not steadfastly opposed to annual matches. WWE does it with the Royal Rumble and WCW did a good job with WarGames. The problem with annual matches is when it doesn’t feel like there’s a story that naturally calls for it. I wouldn’t have been upset if we didn’t get Anarchy in the Arena this year but I think it’s fine in its current construction. The big question is under what circumstances does Mox finally agree to work with the Bucks.
Speaking of the Bucks, they decided to flex their muscle and move Swerve’s match up to the beginning of Collision forcing Swerve to wrestle in his street clothes. He beat Blake Christian handily, although Christian got in more offense than he really should have. After the match, The Bucks jumped Swerve and double-teamed him until Omega made the save. Shortly after an eight man tag match was announced for Dynamite: Omega & Kevin Knight & “Speedball” Mike Bailey & Mark Briscoe against The Young Bucks & Kazuchika Okada & Ricochet.
Tony Schiavone spent the rest of the show hard-selling the fact that this match would feature Omega and Okada in the ring opposite each other for the first time in AEW. The match should be great, but I hope Omega and Okada avoid touching. Save that moment for July 12 at All In.
Grade: B+
Under New Management
Latest Developments
FTR revealed Stokely Hathaway as their new agent, attacked the Rock & Roll Express (again), and defeated Strong & O’Reilly in the third match of their series.
Analysis
Schiavone attempted to call out FTR for an in-ring interview but was unexpectedly interrupted by Stokely Hathaway. Stokely said FTR were unjustly punished for what they did to Tony given that other members of the roster got away with arson, threatening people with scissors, and even attempted murder. He announced that he was their agent and that he was going to get their suspension expunged and their fine refunded. Cash and Dax took turns on the mic.
Cash said Daniel Garcia chose 2.0 so they did what they had to do. Dax noted the Rock & Roll Express in the crowd and called them to the ring. He asked Ricky questions but before Ricky could answer Dax pulled the mic away repeatedly. Ricky finally got frustrated and attempted to stop Dax’s blatant disrespect only to be blindsided by Cash. FTR continued their attack hitting Ricky with a spike piledriver.
Stokely is an interesting choice for FTR’s agent. He’s a good talker, but he has a tendency to go for humor. If this is going to work, he’s going to have to be serious. I think he can do it. Him running down the unpunished crimes of others felt like AEW acknowledging the criticism they’ve faced for the lack of consequences for extreme behavior. The attack on the Rock & Roll Express generated some heat but at this point the attacks are losing their effect because viewers have been conditioned to expect them to get brutalized any time they appear on TV.
FTR vs. Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Relly was very different match from their first two. FTR were much more vicious and calculating. They targeted Strong’s knee, slamming it repeatedly into the steps before tying him to the frame of the ring. That left O’Reilly to fight both Dax and Cash two on one. More than once he withstood the onslaught and looked primed to make a tag only for Strong to get yanked off the apron. In the end, FTR won after a spike piledriver on KOR.
FTR completely changing their wrestling style to go along with their heel turn is the smart thing to do. Too often wrestlers turn heel but wrestle in the same way that generates crowd support and it undermines everything. FTR were mean and nasty. I’d forgotten how well they worked as heels.
Adam Cole came out to check on his buddies and ate a Shatter Machine for his trouble. That brought out Daniel Garcia, armed with a tire iron and looking for revenge which he promised FTR he would get. Given that Dax, in particular, continued to antagonize Tony and Nigel, I still think it’s likely that Nigel ends of being Garcia’s partner in the eventual match.
Grade: B+
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
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Hayterade and Itchy Bitches
Latest Developments
Jamie Hayter punched her ticket to the finals of the Owen Hart Tournament; Toni Storm decided to lay down an open challenge in a way only she can.
Analysis
Jamie Hayter fought Kris Statlander in the semi-finals of the Owen Hart Tournament. As expected, these two threw bombs at each other. It was a mostly even contest until Hayter caught Stat with a huge forearm when Stat leapt off the top rope at her. Hayter followed that up with the Hayterade for the win.
A super-physical match between these two ladies. Ultimately, the right person won. Now there’s just about a month to build up the Hayter vs. Mercedes Moné final at Double or Nothing. That process began on Saturday night with a well-done video package.
Elsewhere, Toni Storm grew restless waiting to find out who her opponent at All In will be so she decided to seek out some competition. In a backstage interview she laid out an open challenge for “any bitch with the itch.” Queen Aminata immediately took her open on her challenge.
The match between the two on Collision was good. It definitely felt like something of a make good for Aminata’s wrist injury keeping her out of the Owen. Not surprisingly, Storm won with the Storm Zero. On Sunday a video of Toni at the TCM Classic Film Festival was posted to social media. Amidst the nice synergy between AEW and another branch of WBD, Toni said she knew there were “many bitches with itches” and laid out another open challenge for tonight. These open challenges aren’t a bad way to keep Toni on TV given that a title feud would feel super-predictable right now with All In looming in a few months.
Grade: B
Do You Want to Ride in My Mercedes, Bob?
Latest Developments
In his effort to get into the Hurt Syndicate, MJF wound up losing a very nice sports car.
Analysis
Off the heels of that controversial segment two weeks ago, MJF showed up last week in a very nice sports car. The Hurt Syndicate were in the ring celebrating their win over The Gates of Agony at the time. Max made his way down to the ring and presented his case once more. He asked for another vote. MVP of course gave him a thumbs up. Shelton, somewhat surprisingly, followed suit but explained that MJF’s bribes didn’t win him over; he said he did it because he respects MVP.
Before Bobby could cast his vote, MJF plead his case again and then offered Lashley the car for a thumbs up. Lashley wanted to see the car first, so they made their way to the back. Once there, Max made the mistake of giving Lashley the keys to the car. Lashley and Benjamin climbed in. Lashley gave MJF the thumbs down and sped off. Shortly thereafter MJF ran into Hangman and the two exchanged words with MJF seemingly implying that his true intentions are to use the Hurt Syndicate to win back the AEW World Title.
MJF and the Hurt Syndicate continue to be very entertaining TV. MJF learned a valuable lesson: Never give someone payment for something until the job is done. He should’ve waited for Bobby to vote before handing over the keys. Alas, he lost that very nice car. While this has been fun TV, there has to be a next step soon.
MJF can’t keep coming out week after week trying to bribe and beg his way into the Hurt Syndicate. Hopefully his revealing comments to Hangman help speed the process along. Perhaps MVP who remained in the building after the other Syndicate members left in the car heard MJF imply he was going to exploit the Hurt Syndicate. Either way it’s time to move towards the next phase of this story.
Grade: B+
Random Questions
Why does Bryan Keith want Chris Jericho’s approval so badly? Bryan, be happy he’s gone. He was only holding you down, anyway. Why are Team TNA back on TV? I don’t mind Jeff Jarrett, but I don’t need the entire clown car with him. Why is Max Caster back to doing open challenges? I thought the point was to set up the return of Anthony Bowens. That’s happened now. What purpose do these segments serve? Is A.R. Fox a jobber or not? He does nothing but lose but consistently gets in way too much offense for someone everybody knows is going to lose. It’s clear that Tony Khan respects him, and that’s fine, but if that’s the case, he needs a reset. Otherwise, he needs to be given significantly less offense than he is on a regular basis.
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