SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
NEWS & NOTES
• Since losing to Toni Storm at All In, Mercedes Moné has won two more championships. Competing in Polish promotion Prime Time Wrestling, Mercedes defeated Diana Strong to win not only the PTW Women’s Title, but also the Italian promotion BestYa Wrestling Women’s Title. That brings her total of titles up to eight belts from six different countries.
• Tony Schiavone very professionally and succinctly addressed the death of Hulk Hogan on Collision. AEW had, to that point, not made any mention of it on social media and, quite frankly, I was hoping they’d refrain from saying anything at all given that Hogan was so contemptible a person that he was publicly banned from AEW by Tony Khan. That said, I thought Schiavone handled it well and it was certainly better than the over-the-top veneration on Smackdown the previous night.
INTRO
Tonight is the final Dynamite and penultimate show in the Aragon Ballroom residency. AEW has made the most of this venue, but it will be nice to have a change of scenery next week. Before we get there though, there’s a rare AEW World Title match on TV tonight. That alone makes this episode can’t-miss. In addition, there’s a huge women’s tag and more action in the tag team tournament. Plus we’ll hopefully get some clarity on an utterly bizarre segment from last week. All this on Dynamite tonight, so to quote Samuel L. Jackson from Jurassic Park, “Hold on to your butts.”
The End is Near
Latest Developments
After quickly dispatching of Wheeler Yuta, “Hangman” Page ultimately showed Yuta mercy and didn’t hang him over the rope. To close the show, Hangman challenged Mox to one final match during which everyone will be banned from ringside.
Analysis
Hangman opened Dynamite in a match against Wheeler Yuta. Out to avenge the Death Riders mauling of Colt Cabana, Hangman made short work of Yuta. Once the match was over, he bloodied him with chain and then feigned hanging him over the ropes. He stopped short of actually doing it, opting instead to show Yuta mercy and prove him that the Death Riders had no intention of saving him.
This was exactly what it needed to be. Hangman beat Yuta in dominant fashion in under four minutes. He bloodied him after the match, but instead of going all the way to the Death Riders level, he showed Yuta more compassion than Yuta’s shown anyone else in the last year. While it’s been a quiet story thread throughout the Death Riders saga, I think the ship has sailed on trying to get Yuta to see the light. Nobody wants to cheer him anyway.
Mark Briscoe scored something of an upset over Claudio Castagnoli in the main event only to find himself immediately attacked by the Death Riders. Hangman confidently walked to the ring and right up to Mox. He said he wanted to prove his win wasn’t a fluke, that Mox was wrong about his championship stamina. He challenged him to a AEW World Title match with the caveat that everyone was banned from ringside.
Mox’s promo earlier in the night questioning Hangman’s ability to be champion day after day set this up perfectly. Hangman walking right into the proverbial lion’s den without fear or hesitation was great. World title matches on TV are a rarity, so it makes this must-see. It’s a smart business move to ensure a great on their fifth night of their Aragon Ballroom residency. I do agree with Wade Keller though that the “everyone is banned from ringside” stipulation should’ve come with an enforcement mechanism to incentivize everyone to actually stay away.
Hangman is almost certainly going to win and retain the title. The question then is what happens next. This feels like it should conclude Hangman’s business with the Death Riders. That leaves question marks as to where each one moves going forward. For the Death Riders it still seems that they’re moving towards a final Blood & Guts match against a Team AEW featuring Darby Allin, Will Ospreay, and maybe Bryan Danielson. Hangman’s path is a little murkier, on the other hand. Sure there’s the MJF stuff, but Max’s plate is a little full at this moment so that match is probably at least one PPV down the road which means Hangman’s dance card for Forbidden Door is open.
Grade: B+
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
Check out the latest episode of the “All Elite Conversation Club” with Joel Dehnel and Gregg Kanner, part of the PWTorch Dailycast line-up: CLICK HERE to stream (or search “pwtorch” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)
Callis Family Values
Latest Developments
Swerve Strickland and Hechicero fought to a DQ after which Kazuchika Okada attacked Swerve; Kyle Fletcher demanded and was granted a TNT Title match against Dustin Rhodes; Takeshita won a barnburner against Shingo Takagi, putting him in a four-way tie for second place in the B-block of the G1 Climax tournament
Analysis
Swerve and Hechicero had a fine match that never quite rose to second gear possibly because it was designed to end by DQ after members of the Don Callis Family interfered. Swerve dispatched of Rocky Romero only to get nailed in the back with a chair by Okada. Okada attempted to tombstone Swerve on the chair, but Swerve reversed him and set Okada up for a House Call before Okada bailed out of the ring.
As the match started, I thought it was an odd pairing as both guys realistically needed to win. Hechicero is positioning himself as a challenger to Bandido’s ROH Title and Swerve is obviously feuding with Okada. Given those circumstances, the DQ made sense; however, it would’ve made more sense to put Swerve in a match against Rocky Romero and give Hechicero an opponent he could beat.
That aside, I like that Okada is involved in a week-to-week story instead of disappearing until two weeks before the PPV to set up a thrown-together title defense. That House Call spot, though, was awkward as hell. Okada just sitting their with a chair over his head waiting for Swerve to kick him looked ridiculous, so I’m glad he bailed out of the ring.
After Dustin Rhodes successfully defended his TNT Title against Lee Moriarty in a match that was better than it had any right to be, Kyle Fletcher came out to the ramp. “The Protostar” said he refused to see Dustin hand out title shots to anyone else before he got one. “The Natural” obliged and granted him his match for tomorrow night on Collision, under Chicago Street Fight rules.
You’re not going to find a bigger Dustin Rhodes fan than me. He’s my favorite Rhodes brother. The fact that he can still go at his age is a testament to his will. That said, there’s no circumstance in which Dustin should beat Kyle Fletcher. The street fight rules give Dustin a chance to hang in longer and bleed a lot, but the feel-good moment in Texas ends in Chicago. The TNT Title belongs to Kyle Fletcher.
Meanwhile, over in Japan, Konosuke Takeshita is killing it in the G1, having one great match after another. Most recently, he won a stiff fight over Shingo Takagi. Currently he has four points which puts him a four-way tie for second place with Drilla Maloney, Shota Umino, and Ren Narita. Yoshi-Hashi sits atop the B-block with 6 points but there’s still lots of tournament to go.
All in all, the Callis Family is flexing its muscle in the most important places. One mid-ring promo with his Family members would really set them up as the dominant heel faction moving forward.
Grade: B+
Teases, Titles, and The Rise of Windsor
Latest Developments
Toni Storm defeated Billie Starkz in a spirited match before being attacked by Billie and Athena who then teased cashing in her contract only to be interrupted by Alex Windsor. Athena defeated Windsor to retain the ROH Women’s Title on Collision, then attacked her afterwards leading Toni to returning the favor from Dynamite.
Analysis
Toni Storm and Billie Starkz had a really good match on Dynamite. Billie is very talented for a 20 year old. In the end, Toni caught Billie in the TCM chicken wing for the submission win. After the match, she attacked Toni and grabbed the Women’s Title belt. The camera captured this great shot of her staring at it while Athena looked down from the box seats where she’d been watching the match. Billie clobbered Toni with the belt and then called Athena down. Once Athena got to the ring, she repeatedly slammed Toni’s head into the steps and then clocked with the metal clipboard, which sounded brutal. As she prepared to sign the contract, Alex Windsor hit the ring. Athena and Billie ran off.
Saturday night on Collision, Athena and Windsor had a very physical ROH Women’s Title match. Windsor put up a good fight until Athena shotgun-dropkicked her so hard into the barricade you could practically see her soul leave her body. An O-Face later and Athena remained champion. The post-match attack brought Toni down to the ring to run off Athena and her Minion.
Alex Windsor had a good week even if throwing her into an ROH Title match felt a little fast. She’s being positioned as an ally to the top women’s star in the company. That’s not a bad place to be.
As for Toni and Athena, I love the idea of a match between them for the Women’s World Title, but this cash-in nonsense puts a damper on it. I don’t understand why TK insisted on going back to that concept again this year. Hopefully, Toni can persuade her, in her own inimitable style, to use her contract to set up a real match between the two. Toni ought to lose the title straight up, not because was softened up ahead of time.
Grade: B
The Hurt Syndicate Blues
Latest Developments
MJF’s status in the Hurt Syndicate is uncertain after he got into backstage with Bobby Lashley.
Analysis
In one of the weirder segments of the week, MJF walked into the Hurt Syndicate locker room and confronted his stablemates who had just attacked FTR on behalf of Adam Copeland who paid them to do so. MJF said – demanded, even – that they focus on helping him win the AEW World Title. That proved to be too much for Bobby Lashley who slammed MJF against a locker and told him that he and Shelton aren’t MJF’s lackeys. Shelton and MVP just shook their heads in disappointment and walked out.
As my grandma likes to say, MJF let his mouth overload his ass. Basically, he talked too much and got himself in trouble. What made this segment strange is it seemed to come out of nowhere. It felt three weeks early to me. The Hurt Syndicate should’ve had more moments of acting like the APA before MJF got in their faces. Yeah, Lashley’s basically just tolerated MJF, but it still felt rushed.
The question now is where do MJF and the Hurt Syndicate stand. Can MJF schmooze his way back into everyone’s good graces or will does he have a clause in the contract he can hold over their head. I sense it’s the latter, given that it was made a point to show MJF’s lawyer and the Hurt Syndicate’s lawyer conspiring together before the contract signing a couple months ago. Perhaps we find out that MJF can force the Hurt Syndicate to do his bidding. Whatever the case, they better make some sense of this fast-forwarded angle.
Grade: C
Tag Team Tournament Madness
Latest Developments
Tony Khan announced a mini-tournament to determine challengers for the Hurt Syndicate at Forbidden Door. Injuries forced some reworking of the participants so a full bracket wasn’t released until Saturday. FTR advanced over Jet Speed and the Bang Bang Gang defeated Big Bill & Bryan Keith.
Analysis
The AEW Tag Team Division is finally getting shown some love after months of neglect. FTR and Jet Speed had an excellent match featuring one of the closest near falls you’ll ever see. In the end, Stokely Hathaway went to his 1980s manager bag of tricks. He used his crutch the way Jim Cornette would’ve used his tennis racket to give Dax leverage for the pin. On Collision, The Bang Bang Gang compromised of Juice Robinson and Austin Gunn (Colton Gunn was injured the prior week) pulled off the win in a very good match against Big Bill & Bryan Keith. They went more into the ’90s WCW well with Austin reversing the direction of a roll-up allowing Juice to get the win.
Tonight, the Young Bucks take on the Outrunners. While I would love to see the Bucks further broken by losing to the kitschy team, I think it’s more likely that they advance to face Brody King & Bandido who almost certainly will beat the Gates of Agony.
Grade: B
Random Questions
– Was that a double turn? Anthony Bowens answered Max Caster’s weekly open challenge for the second time. This time, though, he was noticeably more vicious. He totally dominated his former tag team partner for the entirety of the two minutes the match lasted. He smashed Caster’s framed trademark which elicited the first round of boos from the crowd. Attacking Caster after the bell had already rung brought out the second chorus of boos.
Billy Gunn grabbed Bowens around the waist and literally flung him off Caster, something that nearly pushed Bowens to snapping on his mentor. Caster has been getting over with the crowd in spite of himself in recent weeks while Anthony Bowens has been spinning his wheels in the mud so to speak. While this is obviously not Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart at WrestleMania 13, a double-turn may be just what the doctor ordered. The sooner Bowens completes the turn by attacking Billy, the better. Hopefully it’s a fully stretcher job and Billy’s leathery, overly muscled self is “killed off.” He’s far outlived his usefulness.
– Is Triangle of Madness really the best you could come up with, AEW? A couple weeks ago, Excalibur referred to the trio of Julia Hart, Skye Blue, and Thekla as The Sisters of Sin. That’s a much more dynamic name than Triangle of Madness.
– How much money has Tony Khan awarded in monetary prizes in the last few months? By count, it’s at least $1.3 million. Look I get that attaching a big monetary prize as stakes for a match is a throwback to 1980s territorial booking. That said, the frequency of these matches is getting excessive. Find other ways to set up matches and give the checkbook a rest.
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