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, September 1st edition of AEW Dynamite. Also I thought last week was episode 100 originally because I googled it to check to make sure I had it right after episode 95, so since this one is being promoted as episode 100 I fixed the last 4 articles that are now episode 96-99 because this is 100.
FTR vs. Santana & Ortiz
Dynamite kicks off with one of the best tag team matches this year. FTR and Santana & Ortiz had one hell of a matcb here. It had me at the edge of my seat with each passing moment, and you knew they wanted to prove themselves after the last time they faced didn’t go as planned. Cash Wheeler had a gruesome injury the last time these two teams met and that definitely derailed that match.
The action was back and forth and both teams traded moves and the momentum shifted numerous times. Dax hit a brainbuster hoping it would end the match like it did the last time but it didn’t this time. Wheeler hit one of the best Gory Bombs I’ve ever seen for a near fall on Ortiz. FTR goes for the powerplex combination, Dax hits the superplex on Ortiz but Santana stops the splash and when Cash tries to hit it after a delay, Ortiz rolls out of the way but turns around into the Big Rig which also gets FTR a near fall.
Cash tries to take control back but Santana and Ortiz fight it off hiting a cutter, followed by a lunblower, followed by a double revere suplex by Santana & Ortiz to secure the victory.
Segment Rating: 8/10
This is exactly what tag team wrestling should be. This match was amazing, I loved every second of it and was leaps and bounds better then their last outting even without the accident where Cash got hurt. I’m glad he’s back and hopefully this freak accident doesn’t have lasting effects. If you have time to watch a stellar tag team match, watch this one. I expect in a few weeks will get s rubber match between these teams.
CM Punk Speaks and Gets Attacked
So right before this, 2.0 and Daniel Garcia cut a promo directed at Darby. Garcia is going to take out Darby before All Out on Friday and they are going to take that match with CM Punk away.
So CM Punk came out to cut a promo talking about how he’s been enjoying coming out to talk to the fans and he’s gonna enjoy it as long as it lasts and that might be as soon as this Sunday at All Out. He mentions how he’s really nervous and he’d say even scared about this Sunday. The fans chant “you still got it” and goes to promise something but is attacked by 2.0 and Garcia. They stomp him for a little before Darby and Sting make the save.
Darby gives Garcia a Coffin Drop, Sting gives Matt Lee a Scorpion Death Drop, and CM Punk gives Jeff Parker a GTS. This leads to Punk and Darby having a stare down. Then Sting gets on the mic, and says he always respected Punk and always wanted to share a ring with him but their paths never crossed until now. He then says they had to make sure this match at All Out takes place because he knows Darby is ready and knows Punk is ready and it will be showtime on Sunday. Sting then mentions that he will not be at ringside for this match as it needs to be one on one.
Darby later does a video promo talking about how Punk was his favorite wrestler when he was fifteen, and when Darby finally got into wrestling Punk was gone, from wrestling and he mentions how Punk said Darby is the first on Punk’s list and when he said that Punk was already overlooking him. He goes on to say that when Punk said he was the first on his list in reality he should have been the last because now he has to do the impossible and beat CM Punk in Chicago.
Segment Rating: 7/10
I loved this as it was a good spot to finally get Darby and Punk in the same ring at the same time. I’ve loved 2.0 and Garcia still having a gripe with Darby and them balancing Darby having more then one feud at once. Punk had another good promo until the attack and he looked fine with the little physicality that he had here. This is the match I think most people are the most excited for on Sunday and all of this to get to it has been great.
Orange Cassidy vs. Jack Evans
Boy are these HFO versus Best Friends stuff just not working. I found it very hard to get into this match and I think it came down to this just wasn’t interesting at all. Jack Evans doesn’t seem like he cares because all he does is be a lacky and that’s not interesting either. Why am I supposed to care about him if his job is to beat up people for Matt Hardy and nothing else? Him just doing a corkscrew moonsault dropkick is cool and all but does it really matter if he doesn’t? Absolutely not. This is not it for Orange Cassidy, he’s great but I’d rather him have random matches that he also wins on Dark and Elevation then this feud because I’m completely over HFO as a whole.
This match actually ends during the commercial after Cassidy scored a surprise inside cradle to secure the victory. Matt Hardy and all of the HFO (other than The Butcher whose still out) come out and attack Cassidy and Wheeler Yuta and Chuck Taylor try to help but the numbers are too much and Hardy is going for his leech submission until Jurassic Express makes the save to end the the segment.
Segment Rating: 4.25/10
I’ll say it again this HFO stuff is not working for me and then working with Best Friends isn’t either. This match was fine I just didn’t care about it because Jack Evans is just there and when this is just Orange Cassidy quickly beating a lacky. That doesn’t matter at all. They announced a ten man tag for the Buy-In of All Out so hopefully that is the end of this.
MJF and Jericho Interviews
So I decided to put these together instead of talking about them separately. Tony Schiavone is interviewing MJF backstage and opens it up by saying that he is uncomfortable because he’s sitting next to the most disgusting person he’s ever met. MJF goes on to mention that Jericho is a legend and he knows that he has to fill Jericho’s shoes. He goes on to compare Jericho to Muhammad Ali, where as Ali kept coming back and didn’t know when enough is enough, and that’s what Jericho is doing. MJF says Jericho finds the spotlight intoxicating and he wants to take that away from him and that’s why Jericho put his career on the line because he wants the spotlight back. MJF promises to put an end to Jericho’s career at All Out.
Later this time in the ring, Jim Ross introduces Chris Jericho. Jericho enjoys the serenading from the crowd singing his theme. Jericho opens by saying that Chicago is where his mainstream career started and Jim Ross is the one that brought him in and that’s why he wanted Jim to do this interview. So Jim asks why he himself put his career on the line for this match, when he didn’t have to. Jericho calls MJF a POS, but MJF is calculating, just like Jericho, and MJF is a button pusher, just like Jericho, and the only thing MJF has over Jericho is three victories. Jericho mentions the dates that they happened and those dates are burned in his mind and that’s why he put his career on the line, because he can’t be complacent. He says he could have just not had this match on Sunday and won matches and titles, but every time he’d look himself in the mirror he’d know he couldn’t beat MJF and that would be the beginning of the end and he doesn’t want to stop.
The crowd wants more from Jericho and Jericho says he wants more, but if Sunday is the end he thanks the fans and thanks Jim Ross, who seems to be getting emotional during this entire thing. He tells MJF that “if you want to take Jericho out, you’re gonna have to be the best you’ve ever been, you’re gonna have to break every bone in my body, you’re gonna have to squeeze the air out of my lungs because I’m Chris Jericho and you don’t have what it takes, and you don’t’ have the balls, to get rid of me. Understand? I’ll see you on Sunday at All Out, you little prick!”.
Segment Rating: 5.75/10
Both of these promos were fine to me, MJF is masterful at these kinds of promos as is Jericho, the only thing I don’t like is Jericho’s excuse (because that’s what it is, it’s not a real explanation) as to why he’s putting his career on the line. Sure MJF probably wouldn’t give him this match but Jericho can just go to management to get the match instead of giving MJF some kind of added incentive. It was a good promo by Jericho regardless because it was emotional and straight to the point. This will be the last match I hope between these two and I mentioned last week their match two weeks ago should be the one on the pay-per-view and I stand by that.
Brian Cage vs. Hobbs
This match kind of went exactly how I expected. Cage is kind of spinning his wheels right now, he doesn’t seem relatable at all which makes it hard to get behind him as a babyface to me. He’s just a big guy and that’s it. The Team Taz feud isn’t really interesting anymore. Hobbs needed a win as he hasn’t really been featured on TV recently only been winning matches on Dark and Elevation and not everyone watches that. Not to say this match is bad because it isn’t, it’s a fine match.
Cage looked like he had this one near the end signaling for the Drill Claw, but Hobbs fought out of it. Hobbs ended up on the apron and Cage would suplex him back in the ring and signal for the Drill Claw again, but Hook distracts the referee which leads to Ricky Starks hitting Cage with the FTW title in the back of the head and Hobbs gets the victory.
Segment Rating: 5/10
This was a fine match and as I mentioned the Brian Cage versus Team Taz stuff needs to end it’s just not interesting. Cage already lost the FTW title so none of this that has happened after has really mattered at all. They have no reason to still have a grip with Cage. Sure he’s probably would like to get some wins in this feud because he’s had like none. That needs to happen so this can end.
QT Marshall Calls Out Tall Paul
Okay so there’s not a lot here, QT comes out with Comoroto, Solo and a few trainees, and says he wants Paul Wight to come to the ring. So Tall Paul obliges and at first gets overwhelmed in the corner, but fights it off by shoving the entire group off of him and stars punching and chokeslamming a couple members and Solo is on the top waiting for Wight to turn around and dives only to be caught into a chokeslam. After Wight has already cleared the ring on his own, The Gunn Club comes out and Billy has a chair and they get behind him and Billy hits Paul in the hip with the chair and then again in the head and they walk off and QT looks surprised to end the segment.
Segment Rating: 2/10
Nobody cares about this and nobody should if they do. In 2021 seeing a 57 year old Billy Gunn attacking a 49 year old Tall Paul is not something I need or would ask for at all. QT doesn’t matter at all and neither will his match at All Out unless someone takes his spot in the match on Sunday they still haven’t given me a reason to care about this and Billy Gunn turning heel in 2021 is not it. This is bad and I can’t believe it’s a thing they are doing.
Penelope Ford vs. Tay Conti
This was actually a really good match. Tay Conti is so freaking good and she carried Penelope through this match and I enjoyed it a lot. The Bunny was Penelope’s corner after last Friday when Conti faced Bunny and lost because of Ford. Conti kicks off the match by diving off the apron onto both ladies with a cross body. There was a lot of great back and forth in this Ford had some great offense in this one, a nice Indian Death Lock but Conti reverses it into an Ankle Lock and transitions into a Calf Slicer, great transition by Conti.
Conti hits multiple running kicks in a row and goes for the finish but Ford reverses into a gutbuster for a near fall of her own. Bunny on the apron now and as they are fighting Conti shoves Penelope into her and Conti scores a roll up for the victory.
After the match, they start stomping Conti but Anna Jay returns and makes the save.
Segment Rating: 5.5/10
This was a good match, and happy to see Anna Jay back and she is going to be in the Battle Royal on Sunday and I’m sure we will get a tag match eventually from these four.
Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus) & The Lucha Bros. vs. The Good Brothers & The Young Bucks
So this match was very good, I’m not a fan of champions and challengers facing each other four days before the pay-per-view but this isn’t something AEW has done a whole lot if at all, so I can let it go if it doesn’t become a thing. All four of these teams are great, and everyone in this match had their moments to shine, especially Jungle Boy as per usual, and Rey Fenix just showcased his ability like he always does. There was a great sequence between the Lucha Bros and the Young Bucks where Nick does an arm drag off the top to both Lucha Bros and then gets back up and super kicks Penta who answers with his own to Nick Jackson, then Penta and Nick both super kick each other’s partner and then kick each other at the same time.
There’s a lot that goes on in this match so definitely go watch it but the finish comes when the Lucha Bros go for thir finisher but Brandon Cutler gets involved and knocks Fenix off the top rope and Penta gets disposed of. Fenix gets back up and gains momentum fighting off both Young Bucks hitting a double handspring cutter, and then disposes of both Gallows and Anderson and goes to the apron to hit a springboard crossbody but the Bucks catch him and turn it into the Meltzer Driver for the pinfall victory.
After the match, Kenny Omega comes out and they start to beat down the losing team and Luchasaurus is given the Magic Killer through the table on the outside and Jungle Boy is knocked down outside and Christian Cage comes out to help the faces but the numbers become too much and Kenny says that Don Callis got access to the controls to bring the steel cage down and they bring down the steel cage. Jungle Boy, Kazarian, Dante Martin, and Marko Stunt try to make the save by climbing the cage from the outside but they are knocked off the cage or sprayed with the cool spray by Cutler. The Lucha Bros get handcuffed to the cage and Nick Jackson repeatedly super kicks them back and forth like a pendulum. They give Christian the BTE V-Trigger which takes him out as well. The Elite celebrate to end the show.
Segment Rating: 7/10
This match was great and I really enjoyed it as I mentioned, go out of your way to watch it. The Elite is getting better and better at these numbers games beat downs and their characters are getting more and more cocky, and more and more paranoid and I love it. I mentioned how Fenix taking the pin here is very odd to me but AEW almost never does this and as long as it doesn’t become a thing It’s okay here because these teams have faced a bunch, it’s not new so I’m okay with them facing each other here. I do think it would have made more sense for one of Jurassic Express to pin one of the Good Brothers and still have the same ending after the match. I’m looking forward to All Out to see how all these matches involved here and during the brawl go.
Remarkable Wrestle of the Week
For this episode of AEW Dynamite, the Remarkable Wrestler of the week is, everyone in that opener.
That opening tag match between FTR and Santana & Ortiz was so good that I don’t want to pick one team as the RWOW. Both teams get it this week because boy is this match amazing. Go out of your way to watch this match if you haven’t because I can’t say enough about how good it is and again very happy Cash is okay.
Overall
This was a good episode of Dynamite with some great wrestling and some not so bad promos either. Overall I give this episode, the 100th episode of Dynamite a 5.6 out of 10. This show was very good but there was some very obviously annoying things that brought it down. As far as things that didn’t get a rating, we had a promo video for Kojima versus Moxley, a promo video for Kingston versus Miro, a promo video for Christian Cage versus Omega, and a segment of legends picking who wins the final showdown between Jericho and MJF. Thunder Rosa was interviewed about Anna Jay being back and being in the battle royal and she gets attacked by Nyla and Jade and Mark Sterling tells them to save it for the pay-per-view. So this week is the first time Dynamite isn’t the last show leading to a PPV as now Rampage will be the go home show for every PPV and we will see how that leads us into All Out.
What are your thoughts on this special AEW Dynamite? Let us know in the comments below or tweet us @SLTDWrestling.
Follow Mouthing Off: @MikeJC821
Recent Comments