Welcome, everyone to the latest edition of #MouthingOff (with MikeJC): Dynamite Weekly, the weekly review feature on AEW Dynamite here on SLTDWrestling.com. I will be giving my thoughts and opinions on all the highlights of the show as well as giving the “Remarkable Wrestler” of the week. So here are the highlights of the Wednesday, May 19th edition of AEW Dynamite.
Christian Cage vs. Matt Sydal
Dynamite kicks off with a first time ever meeting, which is surprising since the two have a history together in WWE, but this is their first time meeting in a singles. Taz is on commentary to scout Christian and he’s talking crap about him the whole time of course. This was a lot of back and forth as expected and both guys having an answer for everything until Christian Cage caught Matt Sydal in the Killswitch for the victory. This match went as expected and Christian continues to build momentum to Double or Nothing.
Following the match, Ricky Starks gets on the mic and says he’s not sitting on the sidelines anymore, and he said Christian is gonna get what’s coming to him and calls out the rest of team Taz, who come in from behind and attack Sydal and Christian. “Hangman” Adam Page tries to make the save but the numbers become too much and he is also left laying.
Segment Rating: 5.25/10
This was a good match between two veterans, and Christian continues to build to the Casino Battle Royal to earn a future title shot, as of this moment among the people announced he is my pick to win but that may change by the go home show. I hope Ricky Starks is cleared soon so he can face Christian one on one because that should be a great match. “Hangman” also being dropped again bothers me but I think they are trying to make him look like an underdog going into his match with Brian Cage.
Jon Moxley & Eddie Kingston vs. The Acclaimed
This was a pretty good match, both teams did promos before as well and of course Moxley and Kingston were great in there dry comedy talking about superkick parties and how you need to do superkicks to be invited to said party and addressed The Acclaimed and said they will beat them the only way they know how by beating them up bad. Max Caster did his usual rap during the entrance and made a comment about wanting to have some “Oral Sessions” with Moxley’s wife, and Anthony Bowens assured he meant being on her podcast.
I love the style of Moxley and Kingston together, they are two brawlers with very good technical work mixed in and their chemistry as a team is off the charts. The action in this one for the most part was back and forth and both teams had a spur of momentum on their side. The ending sees Bowens try to use a chain wrapped around his fist which the ref sees and that distraction gives Max Caster a chance to use the boom box as a weapon but that is thwarted as well by Moxley, and after they dispose of Caster hit a wheel barrow Paradigm Shift combination finish for the win.
Segment Rating: 5.75/10
This was such a great match, and Mox and Kingston win another tag match, moving up the rankings and making it make sense why they would get a title shot. They went on a winning streak as a team built momentum, and didn’t treat us like idiots by doing it which is very refreshing to see in wrestling. Also they came out to the 80s version of Wild Thing by X from the movie Major League. That version suits them better and you know this is gonna be a sing along thing at every AEW show. Also Moxley always laying in the shots especially to Bowens to start the match never goes unnoticed he’s just so good.
Ethan Page & Scorpio Sky Address Sting & Darby/Sting & Darby Answers
Tony Schiavone is in the ring to interview Ethan and Sky. Sky says he grew a huge Sting fan, but that was when he was a child, he’s not a child anymore, he’s a grown man and Sting is an old man now and needs to step aside and if he doesn’t he will make him. Ethan Page talks about how it feels right that he is part of the reason Darby lost the TNT belt and how Darby has said that belt was his life blood. Ethan vows to be the nail in the coffin of Darby Allin.
The lights go out and Sting makes an entrance and Darby attacks from behind with a skateboard. Sting and Darby attack both men in respective corners and Scorpio gets put in the Scorpion Death Lock, Sky tapped, and Sting let him go, they go up the ramp, and the Dark Order blocks off both tunnels and then Ethan and Sky run through the crowd.
Segment: 6/10
Despite the caption of the tweet above, I actually really enjoyed this segment and it set up the tag match between the two duo’s and they made clear that this will be a live in ring wrestling match, so this will be Stings first non pre-recorded match since 2015. Obviously Darby is gonna work most of the match which is fine and Sting will probably only work like fifteen percent of the in ring which again is fine. Sting can play the hits and bump a little, obviously nothing crazy (hopefully) leave that to Darby who needs to tone that down as well but he’s 27, and Sting is 61 so yeah. Also next week Ethan Page and Sky will have their first match together on Dynamite to set up this match against Uno and Grayson so that should be a good match.
Hikaru Shida vs. Rebel (Not Reba)
This is really a nothing match, Rebel feigns a knee injury, keep in mind she walked normally to the ring and still brought a crutch to the ring and she “favored” the knee immediately in going for a tie up. Then with the ref tryin to hold Shida off Rebel is doing jumping jacks behind the ref’s back and Shida pushes the ref out of the way and gets a pretty quick victory. This set up a sneak attack from behind by Britt Baker after the match, and he hits a curb stomp on the women’s championship and poses with the belt and does the D-M-D taunt.
Segment Rating: 4/10
This was a squash match as it should have been as Rebel isn’t a wrestler on a regular basis and really only did the job to make Shida look dominant going into the title match with Britt which is sure to be a great match and finally is the coronation of Britt, which it absolutely should be.
The Pinnacle Speaks/Inner Circle Answers Their Challenge
Earlier in the night, The Pinnacle is all together at a restaurant, eating Steak dinners, and it starts with Wardlow chugging a bottle, MJF addresses Jericho and talks about all of Jericho’s little jabs at him, and calls it “third rate humor” but what happens to Jericho at Double or Nothing won’t be funny at all. Then Dax Harwood speaks, while asking for more wine from the waiter, and talks about how the Inner Circle continues to make a mockery of the business they love and that’s going to come to an end at Double or Nothing. Then Shawn Spears freaks out and grabs the waiter and asks why he didn’t get any wine, while this is happening Wardlow takes Spears’ steak which is hilarious, Tully calms Spears down and tells him to stop, and then throws a money clip at the waiter and says “that should cover it”, and MJF closes it with the Pinnacle catchphrase.
Later The Inner Circle sans Santana, come out and discuss everything they’ve been through with The Pinnacle, Ortiz speaks first and discusses how he’s tired of talking he’s ready to fight, and put this to an end. Sammy Guevara speaks next and says, as long as The Inner Circle and The Pinnacle both work for this company, this will never be over. He calls them a bunch of dumb ass fishes in silly suits, prompting the fans chant, “Dumb Ass Fishes”. Jake Hager talks next, saying if they don’t accept the Stadium Stampede challenge, they’d be just like The Pinnacle , “a bunch of school girl b*tches.” The fans chant for Hager after that line (which never happens). Then it’s Jericho’s turn to speak, and questions whether accepting The Pinnacle’s challenge is worth it or if what he went through at Blood and Guts was worth it because he’ll never be the same again, and says being tossed off the cage was the most terrifying moment of his life, and that the back of his head almost hit the stage which could have ended his life, and that scared his wife and kids. He declares it was all worth and that they 100,000 percent all say “Yes” and accept the challenge, and if they lose the Stadium Stampede they don’t deserve to be the Inner Circle anymore. Jericho closes it out by saying Santana will be back next week and May 30th at Double Or Nothing, they’re gonna dance all over their faces and piss all over their graves at Stadium Stampede.
Segment Rating: 7/10
I put these together because they were both very good promos and both had a tone of their own that was worth talking about together. The Pinnacle promo was great and showed the different personalities of all the members, MJF being the cocky quick witted speaker, Wardlow being the cocky big guy who does what he wants, Dax being more serious and stoic in his delivery and truly being great in his delivery, Cash not saying a word and holding onto that anger, Spears is the wild card of the group and you never know what he’s going to do and that’s great with Tully as the JJ Dillon of the group and Spears coming off as Tully would when he was a Horsemen it’s all great and I love this group so much. The Inner Circle all have the same goal in mind, to win the war against The Pinnacle, they are more all on the same page and know what needs to be done and it’s a great contrast to the diversity of The Pinnacle. Both of these promos did what they are supposed to do sell a ticket to this match, and has me wondering how this will differ from the first Stadium Stamped where they have made clear this won’t a comedy match and I’m curious how that will be done. Love it.
NWA Women’s Championship: Serena Deeb (c) vs. Red Velvet
This is my favorite match of this show. Red Velvet is great and is getting better every time she steps in a ring. Serena Deeb is on another level, she’s one of my favorite workers in general in all of wrestling. She’s so good at everything, limb targeting, facial expressions, chain wrestling, turning up the aggression when it’s necessary, I absolutely love her. She is an MVP of this division, and her being gone for the time being due to injury was very noticeable to me.
The latter half of this match is very intense, Velvet goes for a moonsault but it’s countered with Deeb getting the knees up, and following that up with a stacked powerbomb for a near fall. Deeb hooks in the Serenity Lock. Velvet gets to the rope but Deeb drags it back into the center. Deeb goes to turn it into a Figure Four Leg Lock, however Velvet counters with an inside cradle for a near fall. They get back up but Deeb hits a chop block from behind to the back of Velvet’s knee. She follows that up by slamming Velvet’s knee down to the mat repeatedly. She then locks in the Serenity Lock again and gets the submission victory.
Segment Rating: 7.5/10
Go out of your way to watch this match, Serena Deeb is so freaking good, and she had a great opponent to boot. I loved this match so freaking much, and as I mentioned Serena Deeb just knows what she’s doing at all times, and when she turns that dial to where she gets aggressive and is determined beat you the way she wants to beat you. She wanted the Serenity Lock to be the finish and the aggression of the chop block and slamming the knee into the mat right before locking it in a second time made me believe that would be the finish and it was. Chef’s kiss of a finish. So happy Deeb is back, can’t wait for her and Britt Baker to have a legit feud down the line, get Deeb away from the dying brand of NWA it’s cool AEW technically has a second women’s belt but that’s not the brand the should be affiliated with it’s bad.
Austin Gunn vs. Anthony Ogogo
This started out with Gunn hitting a dropkick and a flurry of strikes in the corner, and commentary mentions how because of his boxing career, he’s 78% blind in one of his eyes and that being a factor here. However, as soon as Ogogo hits one strike the gut and then a flurry of shots, Gunn goes down and never gets back up on his own, Gunn is bleeding from the mouth and the ref wants to end it but Gunn says no, and Ogogo follows it up with a final knockout shot for the ref stoppage victory.
After the match, Ogogo wants to lay the Union Jack over a lifeless Austin Gunn but Cody comes in with the American Flag around his shoulders, Ogogo grabs the American flag and tosses it at Cody to end the segment.
Segment Rating: 5/10
This was what I expected it to be, Ogogo wins quick and easy, that’s fine, his match with Cody at Double or Nothing will hopefully be his first televised full length match. That will be the test to see if Ogogo is the real deal. Now I discussed last week about hating Cody’s promo despite how passionate it was, because of the landscape we currently live. If you’ve seen the promos Ogogo has cut on Dark, it’s very clear to me and pretty much everyone else, Ogogo is the babyface here, in the landscape we live in today, and the way things are, everything he has said, is one-hundred percent true, and everything Cody said came off as condescending towards countries who aren’t America and that is so obvious, that I could totally see this as being the catalyst of Cody being a full blown heel which needs to happen. There’s no way to spin this Cody is the heel here. We all know it, him saying he’ll be “The American Dream” for one night when this feud doesn’t call for it, heel, and if he wins that furthers that even more because, he absolutely shouldn’t.
AEW Tag Team Championship: The Young Bucks (c) vs. The Varsity Blonds
The main event of the evening and it’s not a bad match at all. The first part of the match is the Bucks in control for the majority, only for the Varsity Blonds to turn it around when Griff Garrison gets a hot tag which is what the Blonds do pretty much every match. After the Young Bucks retake control, there’s a lot of shenanigans here as the Bucks go to use cool spray in the eyes to take control, they do it to Garrison once on the outside to dispose of him, then they go to do it to Brian Pillman in the ring but Julia Hart shows the ref and the ref takes care of that and then Cutler throws another one in the ring and Julia tries to tell the ref again but Matt uses it on her to dispose of her as well, then Pillman gets put into a Sharpshooter by Matt and won’t tap but Nick sprays him in the eyes while locked in the Sharpshooter and gets the tap out victory.
Post match, Eddie Kingston & Jon Moxley nonchalantly make there way down to the ring Cutler and Don Callis bail and Mox and Kingston take it to the Young Bucks and they both put the Bucks in sleeper holds and put them out on the mat and then steal there shoes and their socks, which is so hilarious, when the bucks wake up they realize they are barefoot and Mox and Kingston taunt the Bucks with the shoes to end the show.
Segment Rating 6.25/10
I enjoyed this match and I enjoyed the shenanigans throughout this match as well, the Bucks are turning this character change into a very obvious joke and it feels like the joke gets more obscure and out there with each passing week. The Varsity Blonds looked good here, as well and did a good job with what they were able to do in this match. The post match was great and Moxley and Kingston stealing the shoes just seems like something they would do and probably just throw them away or sell them just so the Bucks can’t have them anymore which is just hilarious to think about. It was announced that The Young Bucks versus Moxley & Kingston is for the tag titles is official for Double or Nothing, and I’m looking forward to that match a lot. Next week’s Dynamite is also taking place on Friday, two days before Double or Nothing so that should be interesting as well.
Remarkable Wrestler of the Week
For this episode of AEW Dynamite, the Remarkable Wrestler of the Week is Serena Deeb.
The RWOW couldn’t go to anyone else this week, Serena Deeb gets it for all the reason I mentioned earlier, she is so freaking good and I love everything about her. Her work ethic in the ring is off the charts every single time and you can tell she really cares about telling the story in the ring.
Overall
This was a pretty good episode of Dynamite, overall I give it a 5.8 out of 10. This show had some great segments as well as some great matches. Also stuff not discussed Miro cut a great promo which didn’t need to be talked about in full but had a great line that closed it where he said to Lance Archer “You say everybody dies, and that’s true, but I’m going to make sure you die first.” Miro has been killing those one liners. As well there was Kazarian promising to take out all The Elite on his own, a segment recorded from last week where Kenny Omega and Don Callis try to get Orange Cassidy to bow out of the match at Double or Nothing, and PAC talking about how “The Elitists” tried to screw him again. This show is definitely worth the watch and was a good appetizer for next weeks go home show on Friday instead of Wednesday, which is gonna suck since it will be airing at 10pm eastern.
What are your thoughts on AEW Dynamite? Let us know in the comments below or tweet us @SLTDWrestling.
Follow Mouthing Off: @MikeJC821
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