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HOUSEKEEPING
• Jim Ross announced via social media that he was recently diagnosed with colon cancer and is scheduled for surgery in the next couple weeks. This is just the last in a series of health challenges that have plagued the beloved, legendary announcer. Here’s wishing J.R., a full and speedy recovery. Boomer Sooner!
• Darby Allin made it to the summit of Mt. Everest over the weekend and began his descent from the mountain. Congrats to Darby on this insane and impressive feat.
INTRO
It’s Double or Nothing week which means tonight’s Dynamite is a go-home show. Will Ospreay and “Hangman” Page are scheduled to go face to face which should be must see TV. My money is still on Hangman winning this weekend. I just think that promo from two weeks ago changed everything and winning the title at All In would mean more for Hangman than Ospreay. I expect we’ll see the main event of Double or Nothing – more on that below – get defined. AEW rarely disappoints with go-home shows and with a hot first-time Albuquerque crowd, I don’t expect them to disappoint tonight.
Anarchy Rulz
Latest Developments
After Jon Moxley defeated Samoa Joe with an unexpected assist from, of all people, Gabe Kidd all hell broke loose culminating in Swerve Strickland make the call for Anarchy in the Arena.
Analysis
Mox and Joe had a physical, bloody steel cage match. While it started a bit methodical, things picked up in the second half. Joe kicked out of a Paradigm Shift and fought out of bulldog choke. Joe was finally able to lock on the Coquina Clutch. Knowing that the move had put Mox to sleep in the past, the other Death Riders at cageside panicked and attempted to enter the cage. They were thwarted by the Powerhouse Hobbs and Willow Nightingale.
A particular highlight was Wheeler Yuta literally running for his life from Hobbs only to get caught and slam dunked through the timekeeper’s table. In the commotion Joe, relinquished the hold and then a hooded figure appeared and handed Mox the briefcase. Mox clobbered Joe with it for the win. I suppose it was appropriate that a title match in Chicago was decided by the Steve McMichael Memorial Halliburton briefcase.
Ultimately, the match fine but was hampered by the fact that there was virtually no chance of Joe winning.
Once the bell rang, the hooded figure revealed himself to be New Japan’s Gabe Kidd. The Bucks made their way out, Matthew holding the remote controller of the cage. Kenny Omega’s music hit and Omega bolted to the ring, hitting Yuta with beautiful V-Trigger en route. Kazuchika Okada attacked Omega from behind. “Speedball” Mike Bailey came down and fought Okada to the back.
Meanwhile, Omega, Hobbs, and Joe were tossed into the ring where Matthew lowered the cage to allow for inescapable seven-on-three beatdown. As the beating ensued, Swerve Strickland’s music hit to a huge pop. Swerve made his way to the ring, climbed the cage, and dove onto the pile of heels with a Swerve Stomp. Matthew immediately hit the button to raise the cage so he and his cohorts could make a break for it. That’s when Swerve got on the mic and made the challenge for Anarchy in the Arena, making sure to include Marina and Willow in the mix.
The post-match happenings were definitely better than the actual title bout. It was clear for the last few weeks that the Omega/Swerve-Bucks and Death Riders/Opps stories were intersecting with each other and destined to collide in the annual Anarchy in the Arena. This scene acted as a nice way to officially set it up. I think it would have been better if Tony Schiavone had been on commentary and interrupted Swerve to announce that Tony Khan had made the AITA match. It’s not really the kind of stipulation that one of the participants should be calling for. Also, Gabe Kidd is going to have to explain why he’s working for Mox and why he would want to team up with the Bucks given that he fought them two weeks ago at NJPW Resurgence.
One thing about this I absolutely loved is the fact that the women are going to be full participants in this match. Marina and Willow are both badasses who’ve been fully involved in this feud. It’s only right that they get to participate in this annual wild brawl.
Grade: B+
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
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Reluctant Partner
Latest Developments
Initially hesitant, Nigel McGuiness finally agreed to team with Daniel Garcia to battle FTR.
Analysis
Tony Schiavone was not on commentary for Dynamite. Instead, he conducted an in-ring interview with his Collision broadcast partner Nigel McGuiness. Nigel called Garcia to the ring and apologized for getting involved in Garcia’s match with Dax Harwood, but explained he had to stand up for himself. Garcia told him not to apologize. He said FTR were out of control and asked Nigel to team with him to fight them at Double or Nothing.
Nigel hemmed and hawed. He said he was retired and that FTR as a team would be too much for him and Garcia as first-time team to handle. That’s when Stokely interrupted. He said he was speaking for FTR who weren’t in the building. He mocked Nigel’s reluctance and concluded his promo by saying Nigel couldn’t beat FTR considering he barely neat hepatitis. FTR emerged from under the ring and attacked Nigel and Garcia. Nigel was saved from a spike piledriver only thanks to a crowbar wielding Daddy Magic. On Collision Nigel accepted Garcia’s offer to team, saying that if he didn’t FTR’s attacks would never end.
This is where I expected it to in the end up but it took a strange path to get there. Given everything FTR has done and the fact that Nigel wrestled multiple times last year, I didn’t really understand his hesitancy. He should’ve been more fired up and spoiling for a fight. Nigel making his announcement of accepting the match from the announce desk was anticlimactic. It really should’ve happened immediately after the attack by FTR. That way the crowd could’ve reacted to it. Instead it was just a weak, blink-and-you’d-miss-it segment.
Grade: C+
Mina is Now; Who is Next
Latest Developments
Toni’s figurative game of Press Your Luck came to screeching halt last week when she hit a whammy in the form of Mina Shirakawa, who pinned Toni to win the four-way eliminator match and earn a title match.
Analysis
Toni Storm asked for and was granted a second four-way eliminator match. This one featured the returning Skye Blue, AZM from Stardom, and of course Mina Shirakawa in her first match as an official member of the AEW roster. The match was a bit sloppy in spots, but overall, pretty good. I will say for a joshi/strong style wrestler, AZM’s strikes were a little light.
The finish came when Mina reversed a Big Package into inside cradle of her own, leaving the champion stunned in defeat. Ordinarily I’d be more down on that kind of finish but Toni has established the Big Package as one of her signature moves so it made sense.
Mina winning was a little surprising if only because Skye Blue was returning from injury in her hometown so I sort of expected her to get the victory. Obviously, Mina and Toni have a history dating back to this time last year and their meeting at Forbidden Door.
The obvious thing, though, is Mariah May is inextricably tied into that history. She was literally in a lot of the clips in the video package however brief the glimpses of her might have been. Having to avoid mentioning her because she’s sitting her contract out at home waiting to jump to WWE will be a little bit awkward. Perhaps she returns at Double or Nothing and turns her obsession to her former best friend in Mina. That could be a great feud without the encumbrance of the title being involved.
Mercedes Mone ran down the ramp after the match to attack AZM who pinned Mina in a three-way match at NJPW Resurgence to take the belt off NJPW Strong Women’s title off Mercedes. There’s likely a singles clash coming between those two at Dominion, if I had to guess. Mercedes put AZM in the Statement Maker. Jamie Hayter ran down and put Mercedes in a Statement Maker of her own. She set her up for a Hayterade, but was stopped by security. The two are scheduled to meet for a face-to-face tonight.
Personally, I still think that Jamie should win and open Mercedes to defending her title at the show. It just makes more sense than a champion vs champion match that would only create an avoidable headache.
Grade: B
One Step Forward, Two Steps Backwards
Latest Developments
MJF was accepted into the Hurt Syndicate after a completely unnecessary, heavy-handed attempt to tease the opposite
Analysis
The Hurt Syndicate dispatched of Top Flight in pretty quick and definitely decisive fashion. We’ll discuss the weird segment between the end of the match and the MJF portion in a minute. MVP called MJF to the ring but MJF didn’t answer so Shelton Benjamin went backstage to find him and find him he did, hiding behind Jerry Lynn at the Gorilla position.
Once MJF made his way to the ring, he nervously watched as MVP called for a final vote and MVP and Shelton each raised their thumbs in the air. When it came time for his turn, Bobby Lashley wrapped his arm around Max and teased which way he was going to put his thumb while Shelton teased setting up to superkick Max. In the end, Bobby gave the thumbs up and and Max exuberantly jumped into his arms. Shortly after the segment’s conclusion it was announced that MJF would officially sign his Hurt Syndicate contract tonight.
This segment was, quite frankly, a mess. It felt completely inconsistent and incongruent with the segments that came before it. The demeanor of every one involved was completely flipped. MJF was cartoonishly scared of what the Hurt Syndicate might do if they turned him down. MVP was oddly menacing in his pre-match statement backstage as well as in-ring with MJF despite the fact that he had been the most supportive member of the Syndicate with regards to MJF. Lashley was equally acting out of character.
Previously he’d had no time for MJF and didn’t waste time putting his thumb down. Last week he felt unserious and it just didn’t make sense the way he was acting. The heavy-handed teasing of MJF “getting what he deserved” and Shelton making like he was going to superkick Max pretty much forecast that he was going to get into the group.
I’ve said for weeks that MJF and The Hurt Syndicate need to get to being adversaries ASAP. After last week, it’s more important than ever. MJF needs to get his heat back and get back to being a clear heel before this goes too far. My hope is that the contract signing segment is the catalyst for the turn. MJF turning on the Hurt Syndicate has the potential to make the Hurt Syndicate look like fools for not seeing it coming.
There is possible path to the Hurt Syndicate “turning” on MJF and maintaining their babyface status. Before that bad segment from last week, MJF talked to Renee Paquette backstage and essentially gave up the game. He admitted that he wanted to use the Hurt Syndicate to help him win back the AEW Title even he didn’t say it in exactly those words. If they heard him cut that promo, they could use those words against him and it would look like he got caught with his hand in the cookie, so to speak. The Hurt Syndicate would look smart, MJF catches a beating, and everyone is happy.
There was the small matter of the segment between the demolition of Top Flight and the MJF segment. Dustin Rhodes and Sammy Guevara came out with Dustin doing the talking for The Sons of Texas. As Dustin started to challenge the HS, CRU came out wanting a title of their own. Lio Rush referenced his history with Lashley, which was a nice touch. This ended with MVP setting up a match between the prospective challengers to determine the challengers for Double or Nothing. The Sons of Texas won the match, an interesting choice considering the HS are also ostensibly babyfaces. I really hope that the Sons of Texas don’t get involved in the MJF contract signing segment.
Grade: C
Random Questions
•Can we get A.R. Fox some wins, please? It’s clear that even though he gets treated like “The Brooklyn Brawler” Steve Lombardi, Tony Khan sees a lot more than a career jobber in Fox. He’s clearly talented in the ring and always produces a good match. I just wish that if he’s going to go ten minutes with someone like Kyle Fletcher, he’d be allowed to get a few wins under his belt first. It would’ve been easy to give him the win in the $100K four-way a few weeks ago.
•Anybody remember when Harley Cameron was presented as a rapidly-improving wrestler who took to the sport the same way that she took to her plethora of over talents like singing or ventriloquism? I do, and now she’s reduced to being Anna Jay’s tag team partner and literally putting over Jay’s ample backside. To be clear, I believe both women have agency and are proud of their bodies, but I always cringe a little with stuff like this because of all of the years women didn’t have history and were reduced to nothing more than T&A.
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