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, March 3rd edition of AEW Dynamite: The Crossroads.
Cody Rhodes & Red Velvet vs. Shaquille O’Neal & Jade Cargill
This match was exactly what I expected. Shaq did a lot of big man stuff, and Red Velvet did the majority of the work with Jade Cargill. That was the one thing out of everything in this match that stuck out to me, Red Velvet became a star in this match. Her and Jade worked really well together and this match wasn’t the disaster I expected because it was done right. Every time Shaq got in the ring he over powered Cody, which is to be expected, Shaq is a giant. Shaq did a lot of chops, knee strikes, and also hit a huge powerbomb and paid tribute to Brodie Lee when he did it which was nice.
At one point the action ends up outside and Shaq attacks the Gunn Club, and QT Marshall who was also there. Then Red Velvet hits a moonsault from the top rope to the outside on Jade, Cody and QT. At some point while they were fighting Jade and Velvet set up two tables outside. Towards the end Cody and Shaq are fighting and Shaq tags out and gets on the apron, and Cody runs off the ropes and hits a cross body on Shaq on the apron exploding through the two tables set up earlier. Then the acting picks up again and the production misses Red Velvet hitting a spear (which they did show in replays for a near fall. Red Velvet picks up Jade again over her shoulder but Jade turns it around and hits a glam slam for the pin fall victory.
Post match, Shaq did a stretcher job and after the commercial they loaded him into an ambulance that he was too big for, then for some reason Tony Schiavone wanted to get comments from Shaq after being closed into the ambulance, and when he opened the door Shaq wasn’t there.
Segment Rating: 6/10
I expected to hate this match but it was absolutely done correctly, and everyone looked fine this match, but Red Velvet came out of it a star who proved she could carry a match and work super hard to be a star which is exactly what she did in this match. I understand why Jade won, as they are probably going to build her up to be a big star down the line as well because of her look alone, I don’t get the Shaq ambulance deal, and the point of doing that probably to lead to something else down the line. Either way I didn’t hate how this match was done at all even though I expected the worst.
PAC & Rey Fenix vs. John Skylar & D3
There’s not a lot to talk about here in fact it’s barely a match as it was over very quickly. The dispose of D3 very quickly and he’s a non factor for the remainder of the match, PAC practically knocks out Skylar with some kicks, hits a 450 splash, tags Fenix in and he hits a Fire Thunder Driver for the pin fall victory.
Segment Rating: 5/10
This was very quick, exactly what it needed to be, often times we see a lot of matches that should be this exact length and they end up going 5-7 minutes. This match was exactly what it needed to be, two guys who needed some momentum moving forward in their careers.
Inner Circle Press Conference
All of the Inner Circle comes out and there’s a podium in the ring with Dasha Gonzalez opening it up to questions. The first question is from an individual from Barstool Sports but the mic didn’t work so we didn’t hear it. Chris Jericho gets on the mic and addresses his history of tag team partners, from Dwayne Johnson to Paul Wight who debuts tonight, but none of them compare to MJF. Conrad Thompson then asks a question, asking if we will ever see Sammy Guevara back in the Inner Circle, Jericho says that he’s said already he doesn’t want to hear that name ever again, and MJF calls Conrad “Turkey Tits”, and they tell him to “Go back to Nebraska”. Then Brandon Walker of Barstool Sports (who was on an NXT Takeover preshow mere weeks ago), asks why they attacked the Young Buck’s father, MJF said it was an act of self defense after he had put his hands on Chris Jericho, and MJF continues by saying he was a victim because he got Papa Buck’s blood on his very expensive suit, and what they did to him won’t compare to what they do to the Young Bucks on Sunday. He also says it wasn’t his idea and gives the mic to Santana who says the “they need to do better.”
Chris Jericho then asks for the next question, and up to the podium next is Eric Bischoff. He says he has a two part question for Chris Jericho, first what is the condition of Papa Buck, and second on his list of stupid decisions, where does instigating The Bucks rank on that list? Jericho tells Bischoff to shut his mouth, then says he doesn’t know or care about the condition of Papa Buck. Then the Young Bucks come out.
The Young Bucks say they knew they would try to hurt them even attack their friends but never did they think they would attack their family. They made it personal by doing that because their father has taught them everything and made them into the men they are today. Their father believed in them and drove them to get here, and if not for their dad motivating them their might not be an AEW and where would MJF be without AEW probably at home at his parents house trying to get booked on the Rosie O’Donnell show, and Chris Jericho would be jerking the curtain at the performance center. The Young Bucks then superkick both Jericho and MJF and a brawl breaks out, Brandon Cutler comes out to help as well and refs and officials break it up. Then The Good Brothers come out and set up a table on the stage, and there’s another one set up below the stage. They put Santana & Ortiz on the the tables and Nick jumps off the top of the entrance tunnel, and Matt jumps off the stage to the floor putting them through the tables to end the segment.
Segment Rating: 5.5/10
I actually really enjoyed this segment especially the passionate promo from the Young Bucks. The press conference stuff was usual Inner Circle shenanigans which is fine it wasn’t as bad as most segments they’ve done in the past year. The brawl was fine as well, the story with The Good Brothers and The Young Bucks continues to move very slowly as they leisurely came out to help after not even being present last week at all. I still don’t think this match was needed but I’m sure it will be a good one at the pay-per-view.
FTR & Tully Blanchard vs. Jurassic Express
JJ Dillon came out with FTR & Blanchard, and Tully was wearing the NWA United States Championship that he won in 1985 in his entrance. This was Tully Blanchard’s first televised match in 32 years, and he didn’t actually look that bad in the match. JJ Dillon was getting involved in the match early and gave Dax Harwood his shoe to use as a weapon. There was a lot of back and forth action in this one there was a lot of horsemen-esque stuff in this match. This was a very good match. Everyone in it looked good including Tully. Matching Tully with Marko Stunt made sense it masked the fact that Tully hadn’t worked in three decades. FTR is always good, Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy are always good. After FTR hit a great superplex and Frog Splash combination on Jungle Boy, Tully hit a slingshot suplex on Marko got a big pop. After Luchasaurus hit Tully with the tail whip. Then a man dressed as a camera man hit Luchasaurus in the face with a slug, and FTR would capitalize by hitting the spike piledriver with Tully to get the pinfall victory.
Post match the masked “camera man” gets in the ring and reveals himself to be Shawn Spears, who I didn’t even realize we hadn’t seen in a while. Then Arn Anderson came out and put up four fingers.
Segment Rating 6.25/10
Okay so this has been something I’ve wanted in AEW as soon as Tully started managing FTR, and that’s a new Four Horsemen. You already have three members FTR, and Shawn Spears, and you need a fourth and who should that be you ask, it’s simple, Cody Rhodes. Now your probably wondering why would Cody do that he can’t be a horseman, that’s the beauty of it, the most dastardly thing that Cody could ever do is turn his back on AEW and the Nightmare family. Cody has said in numerous interviews he’s not a common man like his father, he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. That would always be a huge heel thing to do to get him back in the World title picture which needs to happen eventually, AEW needs to do this down the line. As for the match, it was very good and I’m curious what is next for every one involved, but you could tell this is exactly what FTR was talking about when they said they just wanted tag team wrestling to matter.
AEW Women’s World Championship Eliminator Finals: Nyla Rose vs. Ryo Mizunami
This was a good match but the entire time I was watching it I was wondering why it wasn’t Britt Baker winning the entire thing which is absolutely what should have happened. This tournament did a great job of showcasing women’s wrestling but the booking of it was absolutely wrong. There was a lot of great back and forth action here and call backs to earlier matches in the tournament. Ryo tried to win the same way she beat Aja Kong earlier in the tournament by hitting a leg drop on the back of the head of Nyla on the apron but Nyla would get back in at nine and then receive a diving leg drop to follow up for a near fall. Nyla gets back up and hits a huge lariat and follows it up with a Death Valley Driver for a near fall of her own. After another exchange of trading signature and finishing moves, Ryo hits another Diving Leg Drop for the pin fall victory.
Post match, Hikaru Shida would present the trophy to Ryo and shake her hand but they would start trading forearm shots and have a stare down, ahead of their pay-per-view match this Sunday.
Segment Rating: 5.75/10
As I mentioned earlier, the only thing I could think about while watch this match is the final is completely wrong. Now the winner is wrong. Now, there was a lot of great wrestling in this tournament there is no denying that at all. I just don’t understand this companies obsession with Nyla Rose and Japanese women. There’s so much talent out there and this is not a match anyone wanted or needed. There’s no chance Ryo Mizunami is wining this match at the pay-per-view at all. It just wouldn’t make sense but it could have been Britt Baker and instead she’s on the pre-show. It could have been Britt Baker and she could have won the title this Sunday instead of this waste of time.
Face of the Revolution Qualifying Match: Preston “10” Vance vs. Max Caster
I felt like I didn’t need either of these two in the ladder match and the wrong person definitely won. Regardless the match was fine but it did go longer then it needed to. There’s not much to talk about match wise. The finish saw Jack Evans get involved and hit 10 in the face with Caster’s Bluetooth speaker and Caster steals the victory. After the match it is revealed that Matt Hardy paid Jack Evans to interfere in this match to continue his vendetta with The Dark Order.
Segment Rating: 4.75/10
This was really a nothing match that got Caster into the ladder match at Revolution which he has absolutely no chance of winning. 10 is not a bad wrestler and he’s improved a lot over time, and I would have preferred to see him in the ladder match. Regardless of all that 10 lost this match because of Matt Hardy which lead us right into the main event.
Matt Hardy & Marq Quen vs. Adam “Hangman” Page & John Silver
The one thing that stuck out to me in this match was Marq Quen sold his back great in this match and really paid attention to detail. Like his back was hurt so he shouldn’t be doing a kip up and he sold it that way and I love that. Little things like that and attention to detail like that is how you tell a story while also having a good wrestling match. John Silver and Hangman worked well together as a tag team and hit a few combination moves and you could really tell the chemistry between them is there. The closing moments of the match after Silver hit a very nice looking brainbuster on Hardy, Silver gets his neck snapped on the ropes and Hardy hits a back suplex. Then Quen hits a shotgun dropkick to Silver. Silver tags in Page and the two double team Quen and then hits the Buckshot Lariat for the victory, as Matt doesn’t break it up.
Post Match, Silver gives Page a big hug, and probably over does it, then Matt Hardy sneaks in from behind and hits them both with a mic, and continues the attack on Page until he is saved by the entire Dark Order, and then a brawl breaks out between all the tag teams in the battle royal at Revolution.
Segment Rating: 6/10
This was an enjoyable and the continued the story with the Page and the Dark Order and furthered the story with Page and Hardy for the Revolution match. I found it odd that they closed the go home show to a pay-per-view with brawl between people in a pre-show match, that doesn’t make much sense to me at all. There was no sign of the Kenny Omega or Jon Moxley on the go home show except a video, and Sting, had a promo that resulted in a repeat braw which didn’t need to happen they could have saved last weeks brawl for this show which would have made a lot more sense.
Remarkable Wrestler of the Week
For this episode of AEW Dynamite, the Remarkable Wrestler or wrestlers of the Week is FTR.
As per usual when FTR wins this award its usually for the same reason, they were just really good at tag team wrestling. FTR continues to prove that they are just really good and they don’t need titles to do it and that’s why they get the RWOW.
Overall
This wasn’t a bad show at all, overall I give it a 5.6 out of 10. I was very surprised by the Shaq match and felt it went over the way it needed to and wasn’t the disaster I expected. Everything else for the most part was pretty good. I’m looking forward to the Revolution show and I will be back here to review that as well.
What are your thoughts on AEW Dynamite: The Crossroads? Let us know in the comments below or tweet us @SLTDWrestling.
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