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 special Wednesday, July 28th edition of AEW Dynamite: Fight For The Fallen.
The Dark Order (Evil Uno, Stu Grayson, Alex Reynolds & John Silver) & “Hangman” Adam Page vs. The Elite (The Young Bucks, The Good Brothers & Kenny Omega)
Right of the bat you got this feeling like as big as it needs to feel. Everything is on the line here and both teams have special entrances. All of Dark Order doing a special Cowboy-esque entrance and The Elite coming out with a basketball line-up entrance, both entrances absolutely amazing and make this match feel bigger and better then it already is. The match was emotional, it was funny, it was entertaining it was everything it needed to be. Everyone involved got to showcase their ability in ring and they told a story in the ring while they did it and the match went exactly how I expected.
It comes down Hangman versus The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega as expected, and they threw everything at Hangman and he refused to quit. Page was able to get the upper hand eventually and hit a double Buck Shot Lariat on both Young Bucks eliminating Matt. Page and Kenny would have a great exchange and Omega tried everything and eventually stooped so low as to try to use a championship right in front of the referee’s face and it was stopped but while the ref dealt with that he got another championship in the ring and after multiple V-Trigger knees, used the championship and then hit a One Winged Angel to secure the victory for The Elite.
Segment Rating: 9/10
So I mentioned how this match went exactly how I expected and I stand by that because, Page can not pin Kenny until that belt is on the line. Part of me was thinking maybe Kenny will get DQed on purpose very early so he wouldn’t have to face Page at all in this match which on paper would make a lot of sense, but Kenny isn’t about that. So with that in mind The Elite had to win to prolong this until All Out. As everyone knows this is building to All Out the biggest show of the year for AEW and that’s where the moment of Hangman finally winning the belt after two and half years of chasing it and everything that’s happened to him since day one to get here must take place. So now we need another reason why Page would deserve a title shot and we have a whole month to get there.
Everyone involved in this match had a moment to shine. Stu Grayson in particular put on a show, it absolutely lived up to the hype and I can’t wait to see what happens next. Also they added to the story. Page failed to capitalize on this and not only did he lose his title shot he lost the title shot for his teammates and the only people that were there for him unbelievable storytelling.
FTR vs. Santana & Ortiz
From the start of this match it was great back and forth action and I’ve been waiting for these two teams to have a straight up tag team match together. They didn’t disappoint. Unfortunately something happened where they had to change the ending. Cash Wheeler was on the outside holding his wrist which looked bloody.
Ortiz took a huge superplex that he turned into a double pin but was kicked out and then they continued the exchange and Dax hit a brainbuster to secure the victory. It seemed very abrupt was because of the Cash injury, very clearly they called an audible and hopefully Cash is okay because this was a hell of match before that abrupt end.
Segment Rating: 6/10
I was very hyped for this match and it was great until the abrupt ending and probably would have rated it a lot higher if not for that ending. Hopefully Cash isn’t seriously hurt and this halts their momentum and the culmination of this story that has been building for a while. Cash had at least three doctors around him, so hopefully it’s not too serious and it’s very unfortunate hopefully they get to do it again soon.
IWGP United States Championship: Lance Archer (c) vs. Hikuleo
Before the match we get a message from Hiroshi Tanahashi, who says he’s never challenged for the IWGP United States Championship before and that he is going to challenge the winner of this match. This is huge for AEW as it helps strengthen the relationship with New Japan.
This match went exactly how I expected and I think these next few matches succumb to the opener taking up nearly a half hour because this and next couple matches are not very long at all. These two went at each other immediately and just traded shots and Archer does a moonsault press off the top rope after walking the top rope and also hit a huge superplex that almost sent Hikuleo all the way across the ring for a near fall and eventually hits The Blackout for the pinfall victory.
Also later in the night Moxley did a promo saying that Tanahashi has been ducking him and how he can’t get to Japan as long as he was the champion but now that he isn’t Archer is going to Japan.
Segment Rating: 5.25/10
This was a fine match and it went exactly as I expected and now Archer is going to Japan representing AEW to face Tanahashi which will be a fun match and we also got the tease of a possible Moxley versus Tanahashi match down the line which I’m super excited to see.
Hardy Family Office (Private Party & Angelico) vs. Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus) & Christian Cage
This match was off and running and as mentioned it’s very clear they didn’t have a lot of time because of the opener and because of the main event later. So this match was a sprint and that really was an advantage for everyone except Christian and Luchasauraus and I think that’s why Christian didn’t work the match mostly until the end.
Jungle Boy especially shined once again as he keeps getting better and better. Luchasaurus showcased his power and Christian secured the victory with a frog splash after a Luchasaurus chokeslam. After the match Christian was attacked The Blade with brass knuckles.
Segment Rating: 5.25/10
This was a fine match that didn’t get a lot of time and that’s unfortunate but again there was a match at the open and a match at the end that were given all the time. HFO isn’t working for me and I was kind of hoping that Christian Cage would be done with Matt Hardy and his group after this but I guess he’s going to face The Blade now and even though this nitpicky I don’t think The Blade should have brass knuckles anymore after last week with Orange Cassidy. Hopefully this stuff with Christian and HFO is done soon.
Julia Hart vs. Thunder Rosa
This match wasn’t long at all because it didn’t need to be. You look at the card you immediately know Thunder Rosa one of the most over women in wrestling today is wrestling and you get to enjoy. Julia Hart is very young she has a ways to go before she’s ready for the next level but she does a great job of fulfilling her role. Thunder Rosa takes control right away and never loses it. I love that she is aggressive no matter what and no matter who she’s facing and she always wins definitively. Thunder Rosa hit the Thunder Driver to secure her victory.
Segment Rating 5/10
Now that Thunder Rosa is officially signed she is bound to go on a roll and get an eventual title shot against Britt, does she beat Britt that’s up for debate I’m not even sure when it should happen to be honest but we know that it will happen down the line and since Rosa won their most recent encounter its up in the air for me.
“The Painmaker” Chris Jericho vs. Nick Gage
This was the second “Labor of Jericho” in Chris Jericho’s long journey to another match with MJF. Nick Gage coming off this big match with Matt Cardona over the weekend which I was able to attend in person. Nick Gage became a house hold name because of his Dark Side of the Ring episode highlighting his history and he’s not for everyone. If you respect what death match wrestling is and what they do then that’s fine, and seeing it in person gave me a new outlook for sure, these guys kill themselves for the fans, that’s crazy and amazing at the same time.
So this match is all over the place in a good way because it was very much a Nick Gage match dumbed down for national television. Again you might not like that but when the stuff Nick Gage does is done to tell a story like it did with Cardona and like it did here and it works. Jericho gave him a lot and they did a lot of stuff you probably wouldn’t expect Chris Jericho to do. Also from trolling standpoint, a Dominos commercial starting right as Nick Gage is using a pizza cutter as a weapon is master class trolling and I don’t think that was planned and if it was good on production. MJF was on commentary for the match drinking it in as he watch his nemesis Jericho take the beating that he did.
They use glass light tubes, a Nick Gage signature, a glass plate laid across two chairs. Jericho would hit a frankensteiner from the top rope into the glass plate, shattering glass everywhere and then Jericho tried a Codebreaker but it didn’t work. Gage then uses light tubes on Jericho’s back and head and delivers a piledriver to Jericho into the broken glass for a near fall. Gage then stabs Jericho with a broken light tube into the face numerous times silencing the crowd in shock. Jericho turns it around however when he surprises Gage with Poison Mist to the face then hits him with wrap of four light tubes at once, and hits a Judas Effect for the win.
MJF very upset about this gets on the mic immediately and tells Chris Jericho to watch a video on the tron from a exchanged they had in 2019 where Jericho said he was fight Juventud Guerrera while MJF was still in the womb and MJF didn’t know who he was talking about and Jericho told him to google it. MJF declares that he did google it and the next Labor of Jericho will be against Juventud Guerrera and Jericho can only win by using a move off the top rope.
Segment Rating: 7.5/10
So this match was exactly what I expected again, predictable is not bad if it’s good. We all know Jericho is winning all these matches to get to the MJF match. If you don’t know that then you aren’t paying attention. What I do love is that they get bigger and better and now they are delving into Jericho’s past so now we have to put into question, is Jericho stepping away from the ring after this? It’s very possible, we’ll see after All Out I assume.
Remarkable Wrestler of the Week
For this episode of AEW Dynamite, the Remarkable Wrestler of the week is, Thunder Rosa.
Thunder Rosa gets the RWOW this week for her aggressive straight to the point performance, she’s not here to play around even if your a rookie. Rosa is golden in the ring and she proved again.
Overall
This was another great episode of AEW Dynamite, a lot of great wrestling and storytelling once again. Overall I give this episode of AEW Dynamite: Fight For The Fallen a 6.3 out of 10. This was a highly rated episode for me for the in ring work and the stories being told in the ring which is what AEW does best. There was a few things that didn’t deserve a rating that probably would have put the show down some but regardless. The only in ring segment that wasn’t a match was Ricky Starks celebrating winning the FTW title and them putting Brian Cage to the side and there was a New Orleans style band it was bad and definitely not worth a rating. Also a backstage segment that was supposed to be a Cody interview that turned into a fight with Malakai Black where Malakai was left standing and when wrestlers and agents came out to stop he knocked out Fuego Del Sol with a kick to the skull. Next week will be the last Jacksonville show in a long time and Cody and Malakai will have their show down on that show so that will be great.
What are your thoughts on this special AEW Dynamite: Fight For The Fallen? Let us know in the comments below or tweet us @SLTDWrestling.
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