St. Patrick's Day Slam is a special episode of the weekly television series, AEW Dynamite, produced by All Elite Wrestling. It was held on Wednesday, March 17, 2021 at Daily's Palace in Jacksonville, Florida.
Highlights from this show include the first on-air interview with Christian Cage after signing with AEW, Jade Cargill's singles debut, the fallout from MJF's new faction laying waste to the Inner Circle to close out last week's show, and the first ever AEW women's main event between Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. against Thunder Rosa in an unsanctioned lights out match.
Match Results:
Cody Rhodes (w/ Arn Anderson) def. Penta El Zero Miedo
It goes back and forth a bit until Pentagon starts targeting Cody's ailing shoulder. He motions for his signature "arm breaking" spot from Lucha Underground, but Cody manages to get out of position and steals the win from right from underneath Penta's nose since he was milking it for so long. Pentagon immediately assaults him post-match until the Nightmare Family (namely Arn, Dustin, and the Gunn Club) come running out for the save. Pentagon SLOWLY walks away without the babyfaces giving chase and even passes by QT Marshall on the ramp, causing the rest of the Nightmare Family members to demand what took him so long. It seems like they are continuin this issue of desention between QT and the rest of the Nightmare Family members as he even turned his back on his former students in the group on last week's broadcast. Are they seriously thinking that QT could be a breakout heel at this point against the rest of the Nightmare Family? Sounds like a complete waste of time to me.
Then again, this is the same company that gave the Bucks' childhood friend a winning streak on Dark and job working for AEW Games with Kenny Omega...
Jade Cargill wins a quick squash vs. Dani Jordan
The best part of this were the tweets back and forth from them on Twitter all morning leading up to this match, only for Dani to tweet later that evening, asking "Did I win?" following her abrupt loss.
This is exactly what it needed to be, short, sweet and to the point with Jade going over. I have to say that Jade's kicks look odd as hell. Maybe she needs to work on that a bit more. Otherwise, I'm fine with how she's coming along.
New Faction Promo
This was exactly what it needed to be following this new faction, what Tully Blanchard dubs, "The Pinnacle" during his promo. Tully did this masterfully well to lay out the groundwork for this promo and handed it off to MJF, who knocked it out of the park with a homerun. He explains that he was biding his time working underneath Jericho until he had the perfect opportunity and knocked down the entire Inner Circle like bowling pins. The Pinnacle declares themselves as the most powerful faction in AEW.
No arguments from me when the not-so-Bullet Club or BTE (Being The Elite) guys are in disarray, the Nightmare Family is a bigger clusterfuck of talent than Master P and his No Limit Soldiers in WCW, and the Dark Order is still pretty much direction-less following the untimely demise of Brodie Lee. No disrespect to Brodie Lee, but were the Dark Order EVER a powerful stable outside of that hot minute when Brodie Lee killed Cody, Brandi, and majority of the Nightmare Family to win the TNT Championship? Oh yeah... let's not forget Hardy Inc., who's another clusterfuck of talent that we'll get into with the next match.
I'm really anxious to see where this stable ends up in the next year or two. Hopefully not down the same route of bad comedy and show toons that the Inner Circle devolved into. A lot of people seem to be leaning towards the idea that AEW could be leading this feud between the Pinnacle and the Inner Circle into that Blood & Guts (AEW's version of War Games) match that never happened between the BTE guys and Inner Circle last year amongst COVID-19 concerns and safety protocols. I wouldn't be opposed to that, but the Pinnacle shouldn't be losing that match either.
Hardy Inc. def. Jurassic Express and Bear Country
I said it while livetweeting during the show last night and I'll repeat myself here too. Hardy Inc. should be called "Team Clusterfuck" from the random assortment of talent that AEW clearly has no idea what to do with on a regular basis that they have lumped up together within Hardy's "acquisitions" of talent to hoard around and do his bidding. Bear Country comes across to me as a similar team in the vein of War Machine (Hanson and Rowe) from Ring of Honor before they went to WWE and became the War Raiders/Viking Raiders.
I didn't get why they were letting Marko Stunt get so much offense in. At least everyone bumped like crazy for Luchasaurus, who is admittedly getting rather stale now that the honeymoon period is over for this company. He does those kicks to his moonsault in every match now to the point where it's not even special anymore.
Matt Hardy stole the win for his team after a bit of showboating, but it's like whatever at this point. Sure, Hardy Inc. needs wins for those losers that he has aligned with him, but is really a win when no one really cares about anyone in this match?
Eddie Kingston and Jon Moxley def. Good Brothers
I think Moxley works better in a tag team than he does as singles talent if you ask me. This way he can do his signature spots while the heels feed for him off the hot tag(s). Kingston played the part of the babyface fighting from underneath masterfully here. By the end of the match and during the post-match attack though, he ate far too much abuse from the heels without getting anything in. They hit him with what, 2-3 Magic Killers, before this was all said and done?
I couldn't care any less about the Young Bucks and the rest of the former Bullet Club members having a rift down the middle of their not-so-happy relationship. Why should this matter when the Bucks act like douchebag heels 24/7 regardless if they are heels or babyfaces anyway?
Sting and Darby Allin Interview
I can't speak for anyone else but I'm flat out sick and tired of these Tony Schiavone interviews with Sting that get interrupted week to week. It's been the same goddamn thing for roughly THREE months in a row now. You can't tell me that this is the only material that they could cook up for this guy to do on a week to week basis.
As for the "interview" if you can even call it that, I still don't know what the fuck that they are doing with Lance Archer. One week, he's a babyface and then on another, he's a heel. I'm sick of caring at this point, yet people complained about The Big Show turning so much. Well, Archer is on his way to follow in Big Show's footsteps in that regard.
The most headscratching thing about this interview was Brian Cage addressing Sting and talking about how much he respects him after their match at Revolution two weeks ago. It comes across as Cage is going babyface so much to the point that even Taz utters "What the hell are you doing!?" while the rest of Team Taz looks on confused. Cage merely walks off and that's the end of this.
Should they really be trying to split this group up NOW? I really don't get how this company thinks in terms of their storylines and angles sometimes. They spent the better part of a year fucking up Brian Cage in terms of storylines and feuds, only for a random light bulb to go off with the idea of turning him babyface? You can't tell me that this guy isn't reconsidering that decision to leave IMPACT last year at this point from how much AEW has mishandled him.
Singles Match
Rey Fenix (w/ PAC) def. Angelico (w/ Jack Evans)
This was one of the rare occasions where you didn't miss anything of note if you decided to fast-forward through a Rey Fenix match. I don't get why this match was so far into this card and served as essentially a nothing match to serve as filler before the main event.
Unsanctioned Lights Out Match
Thunder Rosa def. Britt Baker (w/ Rebel)
Simply put, this match was for AEW's women's division that the No Mas Match in Lucha Underground between Mariposa (Cheerleader Melissa) and Sexy Star (despite what you may think of her currently after the fact...) was for that division at the time. It is going to put more eyeballs onto AEW's women's division that it desperately needs while at the same time, elevating both Thunder Rosa and Britt Baker. The only other noteworthy Britt Baker match in AEW prior to this was her match where Hikaru Shida broke her nose roughly a year ago. Ironic that she was left with a crimson mask by the time that was all said and done too. Britt Baker seems to thrive in these matches where almost any other female performer would throw in the towel. My only concern here is that this doesn't give AEW or any other promotion for that matter, the excuse that the only way women's matches are going to draw high ratings is to toss the women into a bloodbath. This is false. A strong, compelling narrative that fans can invest into will do the exact same thing. You don't have to have these women shorten their careers by making this into a trend.
As for this match itself, there were some great spots in here, but my biggest knock against this match was it would have meant a lot more if these women would take a moment and sell the punishment being inflicted upon all of them. Britt Baker was lucky to have an excellent worker like Thunder Rosa to lead her throughout a match like this, but there were multiple points during this match where I could do nothing but shake my head at the women completely no selling the punishment that they were putting their bodies through here. I don't blame the women for this, but it kills a lot of these hardcore matches for me when guys and gals completely no sell the superplex spot onto a stack of chairs. Like c'mon... It wouldn't have killed Britt Baker to sell the ladder being kicked into her face for a few more moments when she had blood pouring down her face for an added effect. They completely no sold the spot onto the thumbtacks just to rush through the spot off the ring apron for the finish too. (Laughs) Why can't some of these people sell like death like how Reba (or Rebel) sold that table bump towards the end?
All that being said, I applaud the ladies for how hard they worked here. By the time it was all said and done, both of these women came across as battle-tested warriors, no matter what you may think of them. In that regard, it was a job well done for keeping many fans invested in the high stakes of a match like this from bell to bell.
Closing Thoughts:
The praise for this show's main event seems to be unamious in terms of the positive reception of the ladies in that spot. They went above and beyond to deliver in that regard, but I can't help thinking that so many people were blown away by that match when the bar for the AEW Women's Division has been so low to begin with until excellent workers like Thunder Rosa, Leyla Hirsh, and Serena Deeb came along. Outside of those names, AEW's women's division is full of women who have good, consistent workers who don't embarrass themselves to others who are obviously not ready to be performing week-to-week on live television. To be fair, WWE is no stranger to putting their women out there to sink or swim either. If Thunder Rosa wasn't a star tonight then her star shown even brighter after this match. Britt Baker definitely deserved her share of that too, especially with the fact that Rosa has to return back to NWA this weekend for their PPV and their following TV tapings for new episodes of NWA Powerrr finally returning. Britt proved that she was more than a chicken shit heel here and showed that she could take her share of abuse while dishing it back out too.
I don't necessarily agree with a lot of other critiques of this show, saying that this main event was the only thing worth watching tonight. Jade Cargill continues to impress with her singles match debut and I thought the formal induction to The Pinnacle with Tully and MJF cutting promos to put the new faction over was well worth the time. Everything else was your run of the mill episode of what we've come to expect on Dynamite on most weeks. I honestly still don't get why they went out of their way to bill this as a "special" episode of Dynamite just for St. Patrick's Day when there was only one marquee match.
The event was originally scheduled to take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada. The venue, however, canceled all events up through May 31 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. AEW moved the event to the Jacksonville Jaguars complex in Jacksonville, Florida, with most matches taking place at Daily's Place—an amphitheater adjacent to TIAA Bank Field—while the main event match took place in the stadium itself, subsequently being the first AEW event to take place in a stadium.
Buy-In Preshow: Tag team match to determine the No. 1 contender for the AEW World Tag Team Championship
Best Friends (Chuck Taylor and Trent?) defeated Private Party (Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen)
Weren't Best Friends already at the top of the rankings anyway? Besides, how in the hell did these two teams get a spot in this match when they were lower than the Dark Order, who were at the top of the rankings when the pandemic started? I get that Evil Uno and Stu Graysen haven't been able to make the TV tapings since the pandemic started, but shit, at least address that the Dark Order won't be able to properly defend their spots when Brodie Lee is sending out his jobber minions in the same goddamn faction to do his bidding. They could have done like Catrina did with Sinestro de la Muerte in Lucha Underground and have her minions lose their match and more importantly, the Trios Tag Titles at the time, and have the minions take the L in Uno and Graysen's absence. It's a darn shame too as I like Private Party, but holy shit do these guys come off green on TV.
Casino Ladder Match for a future AEW World Championship Match
Brian Cage (with Taz) defeated Darby Allin, Colt Cabana, Orange Cassidy, Joey Janela, Scorpio Sky, Kip Sabian (with Jimmy Havoc and Penelope Ford), Frankie Kazarian, and Luchasaurus
A nothing match with a ton of nothing spots. Correction - a lot of STUPID spots. Darby Allin is lucky that he didn't shatter his ankle with that skateboard stunt through the ladder. Double goes for that toss by Cage (AKA Mr. "I Didn't Sign To AEW") into the ladders that he was riding on. I'm a little split on Cage's debut though. He should have went into that match and tore through everyone instead of one big spot and they buried him - literally for a few minutes to emerge out of the abyss like the Creature from the Black Lagoon and win the match. The right person won, but I can't write home about much else in this match.
Singles Match
MJF (with Wardlow) defeated Jungle Boy
I thought this was easily the best match on the entire show. MJF played the part of the perfect heel here, selling Jungle Boy's offense, but not letting him get too much before hitting the brakes and getting his own shit in to make it exciting. I wasn't sure who was going to win this, but I was glad MJF came out on top. Jungle Boy could have won this too and it wouldn't have harmed MJF as good heels always have a reason to fire back. In MJF's case though, I think he's being positioned to challenge for either Cody's TNT title or Moxley's World title sooner more than later, so it's better to keep piling up wins for him that regard.
Tournament final for the inaugural AEW TNT Championship
That photo of Mike Tyson yawning sums up my thoughts on this match in a nutshell. Out of all of Cody's PPV performances in this company to date, I have to say that this was his weakest showing. Where was the fire from him after Jake Roberts pretty much dry humped his wife Brandi on live television a few weeks ago? We didn't get a Dusty-eseque fired up promo from him or anything going into this match and that was a major disservice to the work that both Jake and Archer have put into this feud over the last few weeks.
I don't necessarily agree with the decision to have Cody win the title first either. Speaking of which, goddamn that's an ugly ass title, but I'll give them a pass for the fact that commentary mentioned that it's incomplete at the moment. I get that some people feel that Cody had to win a title since he can't challenge for the AEW World Championship and that's the problem right there. He's a EVP of the damn company. He can give himself a title reign any time he goddamn pleases. It would have made much more sense to have Cody's anger get the better of him and cost him the victory over Archer, then CHASE for the title like a good babyface should instead of this odd tweener bullshit that he and Brandi have going on. Then Cody's reign could be ultimately ended by Darby Allin FINALLY getting his win over Cody since he still hasn't managed to climb that hurdle.
Singles Match
Kris Statlander defeated Penelope Ford (with Kip Sabian)
After the injury that sidelined Britt Baker, Penelope Ford was named as her in-ring replacement. Out of the trio that consists of her, Kip Sabian, and Jimmy Havoc, Ford's easily the most entertaining and talented out of that bunch. Sabian comes off as a cheap knock off of Sammy Guevara but without the charisma and void of any sort of personality. That being said, I did chuckle at him showing up to support her on crutches and covered in bandages.
No Disqualification and No Countout match for the AEW Women's World Championship
Hikaru Shida defeated Nyla Rose (c)
Shida got a lot of mainstream attention for her Tifa (Final Fantasy VII Remake) inspired ring gear for this title match. Fans of hers will be quick to point out that she's been doing a lot of Tifa-related cosplays on her social media channels. More of those photos are up on reddit though if you're interested.
I was REALLY surprised that AEW actually put the title on Shida here. It was the right decision too though. Shida is easily the best female worker they have on that entire AEW Women's Division and it would benefit the growth of that division in the long haul to build that division around her for a while. Having Nyla Rose not appear on television when this pandemic started hurt a lot of the momentum she gained after beating Riho for the title, but nothing came from it afterwards when they finally brought her back on Dynamite outside of one fired up promo from about two weeks prior to this match.
This match was just a clusterfuck of hardcore spots and near-falls littered throughout, but I did appreciate that it took a sizable effort from Shida to put Nyla down. If they want to revisit this match, Nyla can easily say that Shida only won because she hit her with everything except the kitchen sink to win the title. I don't see Nyla buried here as there's something to be salvaged. I saw some people calling this the beginning of AEW's equivalent of Awesome Kong and Gail Kim and could only laugh as this feud isn't even in the same galaxy as that epic clash of talents.
On a side note, I don't know whether it was AEW's decision or Shida's own, but she started a YouTube channel following her own geeky exploits in a similar manner as what WWE's Asuka does with KanaChanTV. I thought the videos she had up so far were in poor quality and just came off odd, especially when the channel has only been around for about two weeks. Despite the fact that Shida's English is surprisingly well (shocked the hell out of me when she spoke on Dynamite a few weeks ago...), I don't think she has to go the same route as Asuka to garner new fans. People already genuinely like her organically by watching the AEW product.
Singles Match for the AEW World Championship
Jon Moxley (c) defeated Mr. Brodie Lee by technical submission
After this match, I went to Twitter to see the reactions and instantly got confused seeing people say that this was the best match Mox and Lee had since their CZW days, when I was watching this and thinking that this was a copy and paste of a lot of their WWE encounters. It wasn't very good and it wasn't bad either. It was just okay in my eyes. They took me out of it after the the fact the spot through the ramp/walkway wasn't the finish though. That would have been perfect to end on without having to do nothing else to keep Brodie Lee looking strong. I didn't think Lee deserved to be in that spot to challenge for the belt next anyway, especially for his PPV debut in the company. It just felt wrong to begin with. Lee passing out in the hold works too, I guess, but I can't say that I was crazy about this match as a whole.
I'll be honest about this too. In WWE, I never saw what was the big deal about Moxley when he was Dean Ambrose and went he got "released from prison" and back on the indies, I thought I was finally was going to see what was the big deal, only to be disappointed with roughly every performance since then, outside of a few of his NJPW outings.
Stadium Stampede Match
Matt Hardy and The Elite (Adam Page, Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) defeated The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Sammy Guevara, Santana and Ortiz)
I'm going to tackle this write-up similar to the one I did for WWE Money in the Bank 2020's main event. I honestly don't have much to say about this show up to this point other than it had a lot of ups and downs, but I was entertained for the most part, outside of some rather questionable decisions across the board on this show.
I do have a bit of a rant to make though in response to Jericho's response to criticisms to the main event.
"If you don't like this match, then you don't have a soul."
Who is @IAmJericho referencing that didn't think highly of @AEWrestling Stadium Stampede Match?
— SiriusXM Busted Open (@BustedOpenRadio) May 28, 2020
I have two words for Chris Jericho: FUCK YOU. I get sick and tired of this mindset that it seems like anyone and everyone is grading AEW on a curve for two reasons: 1) They are the new hotness - i.e. current flavor of the month that hasn't turned away their hardcore fanbase (read: marks) for their product like IMPACT/TNA have done over the last decade and a half or more. 2) People are accepting ANYTHING that's not WWE and will make any and all excuses to support said product because it's not part of WWE's stranglehold over the wrestling industry. It's increasingly and alarmingly apparent that the wrestling industry as a whole - not just AEW - can't handle the single shred of constructive criticism about their "art" that they call wrestling. I call bullshit for what I see it as and I'm not sugarcoating it for anyone, whether I love the talents involved or not. There's a lot of stuff I like about AEW, but on the other hand, there's a lot of stuff they do I DON'T like. The thing that frustrates me that the same podcasters, YouTube wrestling personalities, wrestling journalists, and even people I know personally will shit all over IMPACT, MLW, Ring of Honor, Lucha Underground, or any other promotions that would do anything remotely like some of the stupidity I have seen presented on the AEW product as "professional wrestling". The main event was typical WWE-style comedy from start to finish. This wasn't the "sports-based presentation" that Tony Khan clearly lied to us about that was going into the sales pitch that was going into promoting this company. It's pretty much WWE Lite in a lot of aspects... while being IMPACT Lite in others. You want proof? Go back to Slammiversary XV and watch Jeremy Borash and Chris Parks against Scott Steiner and Josh Matthews and you'll get an oddly familiar scene of Scott Steiner and Mathews chasing after Park and JB in a golf cart while Steiner shouted “Follow their fat asses!”
It's strangely similar to the meme worthy moments of Sammy Guevara being chased by Matt Hardy and Kenny Omega in a golf cart on the last few AEW broadcasts. To be fair though, JB and Hardy are friends and produced a ton of that Broken universe content when they were in IMPACT together, so that was probably a shoutout/tribute to Borash in that regard. That being said, I actually enjoyed most of this spectacle that was the main event. Much like WWE's Money in the Bank main event, this wasn't a goddamn wrestling match. It's a cinematic spectacle with wrestling being a very minor component of it, much in the same vein of choreographed segments on Lucha Underground that a lot of people disliked at the time of that series' popularity, but raved about this match when it's essentially the same thing with lower production values. Fucking double standards, I swear... Chris Jericho is merely reacting like Edge following the critiques on his WrestleMania match with Randy Orton just because everyone isn't drinking all of the Kool-aid for everything and anything AEW spews out. There were parts of this match that I thought were genuinely entertaining, but there were other parts where I thought it was just bad WWE-esque comedy that merely got a pass because it's AEW. I'll gladly take that label of not having a soul if it means I can stand by my opinion that not everything this company puts out is peaches and rainbows like the hardcore fans of AEW act like each and every week.
AEW Dynamite (May 27, 2020)
Results:
1. The Young Bucks and Matt Hardy defeated Private Party and Joey Janela. Isiah Kassidy took a superkick and a More Bang For Your Buck and got pinned. After the match, Matt Hardy helped an injured Marq Quen to the back.
— The Butcher and the Blade attacked the Young Bucks in the ring. Then FTR (the Top Guys formerly known as the Revival) drove an old-fashioned truck into the arena and ran to the ring. After a brief staredown with the bucks, they attacked the Butch and Blade.
AEW would be nuts to blow their loads on this highly anticipated feud and match between the Young Bucks and the former members of The Revival from WWE. I'm thinking that the Bucks win the tag titles from Hangman and Omega during their inevitable falling out down the line and THEN feud with FTR for the belts. By that point, FTR should have enough wins garnered underneath their belts to warrant a title opportunity, along with the fact that they should be making sure their ranking system means a damn. Other than that, I can't say that I was really impressed with FTR's debut here. It's hard to judge what impact this move made without a crowd, but with AEW the only other major work in town still in progress during this pandemic, FTR's options were pretty slim anyway. To be honest, I wouldn't have minded seeing them throw down with the guys in ROH and NWA's tag team divisions first before joining AEW, but that's just me being selfish. The Young Bucks vs. The Revival was a match that people have wanted for a very long time and they might as well give it to the people before fans stop caring about it.
2. Brian Cage (with Taz) defeated Lee Johnson. Cage threw Johnson all over the ring, then pinned him with the Drill Claw.
I don't know how to feel about Taz managing Brian Cage yet. I hope it doesn't end up like Jake Roberts with Lance Archer, where it feels like he's cutting promos for himself having a potential future match than getting Archer over. I do applaud AEW for not sleeping on the lost art of wrestling managers.
— Britt Baker, with the help of photos, a cork board, and red string, claimed that her injury wasn’t an accident but a conspiracy, which Kris Statlander, Hikaru Shida, and Nyla Rose are all conspirators, with Aubrey Edwards as the ringleader. Doctor Baker said she’ll be back for All Out.
I can't wait for the week when Rebel finally snaps and slaps the shit out of Britt Baker. Unfortunately for Mrs. Adam Cole, she won't be returning to the ring until All Out in September. That has to suck for her royally since she was really coming into her own with this heel persona. As for this conspiracy theory with referee Aubrey Edwards, I think they need to drop this. I get that Aubrey Edwards is well liked in and out of the ring in AEW, but there's no reason to be drawing her into the women's division for a storyline. Let her just call the matches.
3. Hikaru Shida defeated Christi Jaynes. Shida hit the Falcon Arrow to pin Jaynes.
Apparently, Christi Jaynes is a regular from AEW Dark. She's not bad but was the perfect opponent to show what the new champion could do. Glad to see that Shida wore her Tifa-inspired ring gear to Dynamite for people who have not seen the PPV could see it here too.
4. Kip Sabian (with Penelope Ford) and Jimmy Havoc defeated SCU. Penelope Ford averted the SCU Later by grabbing Frankie Kazarian’s leg, and Jimmy Havoc pinned Scorpio Sky.
I just don't get where they are going with pushing this trio of Sabian, Havoc, and Ford. It's increasingly apparent that Havoc is rotten in matches that don't involve weapons in any capacity. SCU did their best to make this passable but it still dragged on a bit too long for my taste.
5. Jungle Boy won the Battle Royal, last eliiminating Orange Cassidy, and became the Number One Contender for the TNT Championship.
I thought they made the right choice with Jungle Boy going over in this match, especially after his performance at the PPV. He's able to instantly bounce back from the loss to MJF. If Jim Cornette was watching this, I'm sure he would have lost his mind when "My Lil' Dog Pockets" AKA Orange Cassidy was one of the final two competitors in the match. I don't like that they are teasing MJF and Warlow potentially falling out either. It's FAR too soon to be thinking about that, especially when they haven't even been together as an unit for that long.
— Vicki Guerrero and a bunch of cheerleaders introduced the Inner Circle for their pep rally. They’ weren’t in the best mood because they lost, but they gave each other presence to cheer themselves up, and Jake Hager read a creepy poem. Jericho said the gift he really wants is Mike Tyson’s head on a platter. Sammy Guevara revealed that the cheese platter and bubbly have already been consumed. Then Mike Tyson entered with his entourage. Jericho demanded an apology for being knocked out by Tyson years ago, and a brawl ensued. The locker room emptied out, and Jericho and Tyson were separated.
When Hager was reading that poem, I kid you not that I was having Heidenreich poem reading flashbacks from SmackDown!. That being said, I thought that segment was pretty corny for the most part, much like a lot of these Inner Circle segments as of late. They've been swinging a lot more misses than hits with these WWE-style comedy segments with Jericho's faction and this one definitely went down as a miss in my eyes. The callout to Mike Tyson seemed to be out of left field until Jericho's reference to their altercation in WWE, back when Tyson was one of those celebrity guest hosts to Monday Night RAW when that was a thing. Tyson was on Jericho's team against D-X (Triple H and Shawn Michaels during one of their MANY reunions over the years) and Tyson turned on Jericho to rejoin D-X. I heard that shit come out of Jericho's mouth and went, "REALLY?" only to see AEW do the poorest facsimile/recreation of the Mike Tyson/Stone Cold Steve Austin face-to-face during the height of the Monday Night Wars.
— All Elite Wrestling on TNT (@AEWonTNT) May 28, 2020
This had me crying laughing - not just from Tyson struggling to rip his own T-shirt off - but from how comically bad this came across on live television. Tyson had his entourage with him, which included several MMA fighters, who the commentary team failed to identify as well. So is this going to be a filler feud for Fyter Fest (whenever that's going to be booked in this summer) to kill more time for the Blood & Guts Match between The Elite and Inner Circle? In either case, Chris Jericho can deny it all he wants on whatever podcast he goes on or dirt sheet report he blabs to, but AEW is merely rehashing an idea that got mainstream attention in the Attitude Era for AEW. You have to be the special kind of stupid not to see that's what this is. It's not a bad idea to get some mainstream attention on their company. They aren't even a blip on any casual fan's radar in terms of awareness in wrestling. When someone thinks wrestling, they think WWE. With Mike Tyson working a match or two with AEW, that would get some much needed mainstream and casual fans' attention onto their product. That's what AEW desperately needs too to grow (one of many things actually...). They can't be a hardcore niche product for their cult following of fans forever. That's what put ECW under and several promotions just like it over the years.
I thought this image would be appropriate for the month of October since we had the formal beginning of the high-anticipated "Wednesday Night Wars" between WWE and All Elite Wrestling. Between a death in my family and so many other roadblocks and obstacles in my life over the past month, I found myself getting further and further behind on commenting on the ongoings of professional wrestling in the month of October that I decided to bring back this concept to comment on everything of note over the past few weeks in one place for those interested. Don't count on me to do this every month, but this is a rare exception since I found myself so far behind on my blogging as a whole.
I'm not covering every wrestling broadcast in the month of October, I'm just commenting on several broadcasts of note over the past few weeks, including AEW Dynamite, WWE NXT on USA Network, the debut of NWA Powerrr, Impact Wrestling, and wrapping up with a few thoughts on WWE programming and recent wrestling-related news.
The Wednesday Night Wars Have Begun:
Week 1: October 2, 2019
All Elite Wrestling Dynamite
Results:
Cody Rhodes def. Sammy Guevera
As an opener, this match was fine, but I can't say that it did anything to blow me away.
MJF def. Brandon Cutler via submission
A complete nothing match and missed opportunity. Why feature MJF (arguably one of the best heel talkers today) on this show when he doesn't even get any mic time?
PAC def. Adam Page via Referee's Stoppage (Submission)
This was great. Excellent way to get over PAC's submission hold too by actually letting him beat people with it.
Riho def. Nyla Rose (AEW Women's World Championship)
Here's the thing. I enjoyed this match when I was watching it live, but as I'm reflecting back on it, it wasn't that great at all. Keep Britt Baker FAR away from commentary. She did nothing to contribute to this match in that regard. Riho and Nyla had a few great David vs. Goliath spots, but I thought the wrong person won here. The 90 lbs. Japanese schoolgirl somehow toppled the 200+ lbs. Native American female powerhouse in a match that was a little too balanced for my taste, especially for these underdog battles. If you want to see a great female David vs. Goliath match, look no further than the original Awesome Kong vs. Gail Kim feud in Impact Wrestling. I thought the post-match bit didn't do this match any favors either with Kenny Omega running out to make the save and Nyla backing off from him like a coward. Nyla should have beaten the piss out of everyone following that loss if they wanted to maintain her "monster" credibility. I would like to note that Nyla being transgender shouldn't be frowned upon either as I saw a wealth of people saying that wasn't fair that she was able to compete for the Women's Championship. Let me remind you that WWE had a man win the Women's Championship in drag before along with a similar incident with Santino Marella winning the Miss WrestleMania Battle Royal too, so get the fuck out of here with that noise. I'm for equal opportunities as much as the next person in my wrestling. It's 2019 for crying out loud. Get with the times.
Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks vs. Chris Jericho, Santana, and Ortiz
Outside of Moxley laying out Omega backstage with a Paradigm Shift through that coffee table, this was a nothing match. It lost me when Moxley attacked Omega RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE F'N REFEREE and the idiot didn't even call off the match. Instead, the match goes on aimlessly outside of dives and high spots. The only noteworthy thing about this main event was the heels laying out the Bucks, Cody, and Dustin Rhodes as a result of the numbers game when they were joined by the now heel Sammy Guevara and the debuting Jake Hager (formerly Jack Swagger in WWE). I gotta admit that seeing Hager got a groan of disgust from me as the sour finale of Lucha Underground is still fresh in my mind when he was revealed to be the "Geese Howard" of their underground crime syndicate in the show's mythos. Dude did nothing for me in Lucha Underground Season 4 and I'm not expecting much from him here. I am intrigued to see where this big faction that Jericho is surrounding himself with goes though.
WWE NXT on USA Network
Results:
NXT Championship Match - Adam Cole (c) def. Matt Riddle; Finn Balor returns post-match
Io Shirai def. Mia Yim
Promo package for Tegan Nox's recovery from her knee injury
NXT Tag Team Championship: Undisputed Era (c) def. Street Profits
Tommaso Ciampa returns as Undisputed Era celebrated together with all of the gold
Week 2: October 9, 2019
All Elite Wrestling Dynamite
Results:
AEW Tag Team Championship Tournament First Round Match: Private Party def. The Young Bucks
Easily the highlight of this show. I have always heard good things about Private Party from their House of Glory days, but this was essentially their coming out party for the AEW audience with the upset of this entire tournament. I sure as hell had the Bucks pegged to go over here in the first round.
Number One Contender Match: Darby Allin def. Jimmy Havoc
I was surprised to see Allin actually win a match with that damn Coffin Drop for once.
Riho and Dr. Britt Baker def. Emi Sakura and Bea Priestly
Jon Moxley def. Shawn Spears
It hasn't taken Shawn Spears no time at all to be dead in the water just like he was in WWE in a brand new environment.
Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara def. Dustin Rhodes and Adam Page
Jericho formally introduced his faction earlier in the show as the Inner Circle and I could help but laugh thinking back to Fox Kids settling on that name for the Hellfire Club in X-Men: The Animated Series as the PG alternative. I seriously doubt that Jericho is much of a comic book fan to get the relevance here in relation to wrestling with the irony that they went with that name.
WWE NXT on USA Network
Results:
Cruiserweight Championship Match: Lio Rush def. Drew Gulak
Note: The title is now known as the “NXT Cruiserweight Championship.”
I honestly was surprised to see Lio Rush go over. I thought he was one hell of an in-ring talent before joining WWE and I'm glad he got a chance to showcase that instead of being Lashley's stooge on the main roster.
Rhea Ripley def. Aliyah by submission with a gorilla clutch (pictured above). After the match, Ripley said that she’s coming for Shayna Baszler.
Forgotten Sons def. Breezango. Breezango was scheduled to wrestle Ever-Rise, but the Forgotten Sons beat them up and took their spot. Steve Cutler pinned Fandango after the Sons’ jumping stomp/reverse DDT combination.
Cameron Grimes def. Boa instantly with a jumping double-stomp. Killian Dain showed up and attacked them both.
5. NXT North American Champion Roderick Strong def. Isaiah ‘Swerve’ Scott by submission with the Stronghold. Undisputed Era came down to the ring after the match to check on Strong and were interrupted by the Velveteen Dream, who showed a picture of Strong naked with the North American Championship, and a photoshopped picture of Strong without it. Dream will challenge strong for the title in two weeks. Tomasso Ciampa also made an appearance, telling “Goldie” that “daddy’s home.”
Bianca Belair defeated Dakota Kai. Belair pinned Kai after the KOD. After the match, Belair said that if Rhea Ripley wants to get to Shayna Baszler, she’ll have to go through her first.
WALTER defeated KUSHIDA. KUSHIDA got hit with a shotgun dropkick and kicked out of a powerbomb, but fell to a ripcord lariat. Imperium posed on the stage to end the show.
Week 3: October 16, 2019
All Elite Wrestling Dynamite
Results:
AEW Tag Team Championship Tournament Match: SCU def. Best Friends
I thought Best Friends' gimmick was stupid when they were in New Japan and Ring of Honor and I STILL think it's stupid now too. The right team went over here and advanced in the tag team tournament.
Santana and Ortiz def. John Silver and Alex Reynolds
Hard to tell who was supposed to be the heels and faces when the former LAX members were acting like they were the biggest faces in the company during this match. At least Jericho sold them as heels when they made the challenge against the Bucks at Full Gear.
AEW Women's Championship Match: Riho (c) def. Dr. Britt Baker DMD
I dunno what the fuck this was supposed to be. Britt Baker and Riho don't have any sort of in-ring chemistry with each other. On top of that, I don't see what was the point of having this match when they are supposed to be elevating Britt Baker as one of their top women, only to have her get beat here - clean no less. Shouldn't Britt Baker be in a program with Bea Priestly who screwed her out of the title match in the first place?
AEW Tag Team Championship Tournament Match: Lucha Bros. def. Jurassic Express (Marko Stunt subbed in for the injured Luchasaurus)
Jim Cornette went on a tirade about Marko Stunt being in this match ruined the entire show for him, but I didn't react that negatively to his inclusion. I was fine with Stunt from the little that I saw of him in MLW since there were guys like Ace Romero who were beating the piss out of him, despite him mounting a little of offense. Here, he was like a damn wrestling machine against the Lucha Bros who had to legitimately sell everything that he was throwing at them, causing me to just shake my head at moments, especially during the near-falls. There should have been at least one big moment where he got fired up, only to get cut off by the heels until he got the hot tag to Jungle Boy. Then Jungle Boy could have fought the Lucha Bros off to an extent, only for Stunt to eat the pin in the end anyway. This match shouldn't have dragged out nowhere as long as it did either. I'm not saying that it should have been a squash but with Luchasaurus on the bench, there's no reason to try to sell that Marko Stunt was equally as formidable in this pairing. His job should be merely be the guy who eats the pin and get beat on this team.
Kenny Omega and Adam Page def. PAC and Jon Moxley
Omega and Moxley attempted to bring weapons into play here, but PAC acted as the voice of reason by throwing the weapons out of the ring to avoid getting disqualified. PAC ate a Paradigm Shift from Moxley for his trouble followed by finishers from Omega and Page to eat the pin here. I didn't see the point of "jobbing" out PAC here when he's the one with the undefeated singles record going on when AEW is trying to convince their audience that wins and losses matter here.
Philadelphia Street Fight for the AEW World Championship: Chris Jericho (c) def. Darby Allin
Allin's hands were tied behind his back by Jericho with duct tape but he was still mounting offense. After a well-placed haymaker from Jake Hager, Allin was grounded long enough for Jericho to lock him in the Liontamer to win the match. I get that Jericho wanted to "make" Allin a bigger star by working with him here, but in a sense, he lowered his own value in a sense that he couldn't beat this scrawny kid without the assist from Hager.
WWE NXT on USA Network
Results:
Tommaso Ciampa def. Angel Garza
After the match, Undisputed Era showed up to intimidate Ciampa. Instead of attacking him, they handed him a mysterious USB drive. The USB contained footage of Undisputed Era beating up Velveteen Dream backstage.
This was done to write Dream off NXT television since his back injury is apparently worse than originally let on.
Imperium (Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel) def. Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch
Not a bad match, but ultimately couldn't hold my attention span as everyone was bald and/or wearing black trunks. At one point, I couldn't tell who was who between Oney and Burch and the Imperium guys.
Io Shirai def. Kayden Carter, fka Lacey Lane
William Regal said that Velveteen Dream won’t be cleared in time for his NXT North American Championship match. Roderick Strong will now defend his North American Championship against the winner of tonight’s Keith Lee vs. Dominic Dijakovic match.
Keith Lee vs. Dominic Dijakovic ended in a disqualification when Strong ran in and attacked the wrestlers with his belt. Regal told him that was clever, but not clever enough because now he will have to defend the North American Championship against both Dominic Dijakovic and Keith Lee next week.
Matt Riddle def. Bronson Reed
I swear Bronson Reed reminds me of that kid from Deadpool 2 crossed with Bull Dempshey from the early NXT days...
Tegan Nox defeated Taynara
Taynara needs a better gimmick than she's latina and knows mixed martial arts.
Killian Dain def. Boa Who's Cheerios did Boa piss in to get jobbed out for three weeks in a row?
Damian Priest def. Pete Dunne. Priest hit Dunne with a low blow when the referee couldn’t see it, then hit The Reckoning for the win.
This was easily the best match on this show for this week with Dunne going above and beyond to make the former Punishment Martinez look like a star in this match. I said it when he was in ROH too, but Priest is essentially Baron Corbin if he could move and actually had in-ring ability.
Week 4: October 23, 2019
All Elite Wrestling Dynamite
Results:
AEW Tag Team Championship Tournament Match: Lucha Bros. def. Private Party
I think a lot of the excitement was taken out of the building when Private Party lost here when they already pulled the upset victory over the Bucks in the opening round. That was a hard decision to make with both of these fan-favorite teams crossing paths. One thing keeps annoying me though with these Private Party matches. If they are going to keep doing that combination RKO/Cutter move, then stop bastardizing it with near-falls and save it as a finish. Not winning with that move isn't doing it any favors. It's just like Rollins' Superplex to Falcon Arrow spot where he only won off that move like ONCE (Ziggler fell to it if memory serves). Any other time it's a damn near-fall in television matches and my cue to go to the bathroom or check Twitter.
AEW Tag Team Championship Tournament Match: SCU def. The Dark Order
Nobody cared about this match once the Inner Circle was shown up in the VIP Booth watching this match. What followed afterwards was an excellent exchange between Cody and Jericho that led to a backstage brawl between the Inner Circle against Cody, MJF, Dustin Rhodes, and goddamn Diamond Dallas Page. I dare say that brawl was the best thing on this entire episode.
Kenny Omega def. Joey Janela
These two had a match on AEW Dark that got rave reviews from the insanity that these two put their bodies through, but this match was tame in comparison.
The Young Bucks def. Best Friends
No matter what you may think of Orange Cassidy's gimmick, I think we can all agree that the Bucks killed any "credibility" he had right at the start when they laid him out with the Super Kicks after no selling (as they should) his stupid shin kicks and looking at him like he was a dumbass.
Video Package for Britt Baker's connection to Pittsburgh
This was really good in propping her up as the hometown heroine. Where was this type of package in the months leading up to their TV debut?
Dr. Britt Baker DMD def. Jamie Hayter, Brandi Rhodes laid out Hayter backstage
If this was WWE, Britt Baker would've lost right here too but AEW made the right call with her going over. I think this was her best match to date too. Is it just me or is AEW booking their women's division in reverse? Shouldn't they have done this BEFORE she fought Riho? I have no idea what that Brandi Rhodes attack was about and honestly don't care at this point.
PAC vs. Jon Moxley went to a time limit draw
Unlike most people, I didn't have a problem with the time limit draw as they telegraphed it easily enough anyway with the timekeeper's constant calls about how much time was left. What annoyed me was that PAC and Moxley weren't showing any signs of urgency. They just kept working the same slow, methodical match like they had all night here.
WWE NXT on USA Network
Results:
Rhea Ripley def. Bianca Belair. Io Shirai interfered and attacked Ripley, and Belair hit a spear, but Ripley kicked out at two. Candice LeRae evened up the odds to take out Shirai, and Ripley was able to counter a double chicken-wing into the Riptide to win the match.
Matt Riddle def. Cameron Grimes
Riddle even hit a damn Jackhammer at one point, causing the Full Sail crowd to usher in some "Rid-dle" chants like he was Goldberg. I get confused watching matches like this though as I have no idea who is supposed to be going over or getting the rub so to speak - even more confusing that I don't know who is supposed to be the heel or face in this match either.
Breezango and Isaiah ‘Swerve’ Scott def. The Forgotten Sons. Breezango were dressed as sexy pilots. Their mystery partner, Scott, won the match by pinning Wesley Blake after a kick to the head.
The former Shane Strictland (also Killshot in Lucha Underground) was the star of this match even though I had no idea what the hell was going on when Breezango made their entrance. I swear they need to start over with the Forgotten Sons. This act is as dead on arrival as the Dark Order in AEW.
Angel Garza def. Jack Gallagher.
Number One Contender Match for Women’s Tag Team Championship: Dakota Kai and Tegan Nox def. Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke. After the match, champions the Kabuki Warriors taunted Nox and Kai on the video screen.
Can I rave about how much I love that WWE are going all in with this Asuka and Kairi Sane heel turn? I love that they are finally allowing the Women's Tag Team Champions show up at Full Sail too after Bayley and Sasha Banks initially promised that back at the start of the year.
North American Championship Match: Roderick Strong (c) def. Keith Lee and Dominik Dijakovic. Lee and Dijakovic took out Strong on the outside and tried to finish their match one-on-one. Lee hit a Spirit Bomb off the ropes onto Dijakovic, but Strong snuck in, hit a running kick to Lee’s face, and won the match.
After the match, Tommaso Ciampa interrupted Undisputed Era’s celebration. Johnny Gargano and Finn Bálor showed up to stand beside Ciampa and even the odds. Bálor immediately attacked Gargano, leaving Ciampa to get beaten down by Undisputed Era 4-on-1. Bálor continued the attack on Gargano at ringside, putting him through the security railing and spiking him on the floor.
I had Finn Balor's heel turn spoiled by FAR too many people while I was watching the tail end of AEW, but it was great stuff nonetheless, especially since this means we'll get Prince Devitt-style direction for him instead of the smiling, cheeky Finn Balor of the past.
Week 5: October 30, 2019
All Elite Wrestling Dynamite
Results:
Hiraku Shida def. Shanna
I don't know if Shanna signed with AEW or not (Note: She actually signed with them after this episode aired), but I took joy in seeing her bootilicious curves on my television - even though I thought she was a ringer for whenever the next Mae Young Classic would end up. I thought this took a while (some sloppy spots at the start) before both women found their groove/chemistry working together before it turned out better than I was expecting going in.
I have no idea what the fuck was that crap with Brandi Rhodes and Awesome Kong was supposed to be. I swear, AEW is definitely shitting the bed when it comes to their women's division. C'mon make me care about this stuff, folks.
SCU def. The Lucha Bros. to become the first ever AEW Tag Team Champions
Lackluster finale to this tournament with an anti-climatic finish off a roll-up. All of this hype just for that? Didn't seem like the live crowd weren't too pleased about that either.
WWE NXT on USA Network
Results:
The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane) def. Team Kick (Tegan Nox & Dakota Kai) to retain the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships
This wasn't a bad match at all. I was just a little surprised to see Nox and Kai in a title match so quickly after this pairing came to fruition. Kai's face got soaked in that mist for the finish and it didn't look like she was ready to take that InSane Elbow to the spine at all. That bump looked brutal (rightfully so for the heels) and added to the drama of the finish. Very well done here.
Women's War Games Match Announced
NXT Women's Champion Shayna Baszler, Jessamyn Duke, and Marina Safir all charged the ring to lay out Team Kick following their loss only for Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair, Candice LeRae, and Io Shirai to join in the chaos. William Regal sought out to regain order of this situation and decreed for the first ever Women's War Games match. I was hoping for Imperium versus Undisputed Era this year, but I'm willing to give the ladies a fair chance to see what they can bring to the table in this. Shayna and Rhea have been named the team captains respectively.
If I can do fantasy booking for a second, here's how I would have laid out this match:
Shayna, Jessamyn, Marina vs. Io Shirai, Kabuki Warriors vs. Team Kick & Candice LeRae vs. Rhea, Bianca Belair, and Mia Yim since they've all been involved with each other in some capacity over the last few episodes. Then you can debut the trio of Deonna Purrazzo, Chelsea Green, and Santana Garrett (that they've been teasing on social media) post-match to lay out whoever wins. A lot of bodies for one match, BUT you got two rings to work with.
Month One Consensus:
AEW Dynamite
It's only taken less than a month and I think the lack of depth in AEW's talent pool has been exposed already. The best (and more importantly the must-see) stuff in the promotion is coming from the ex-WWE talents in their main event scene, namely Chris Jericho and Cody Rhodes. I'm more engaged in their program going into their PPV next month over anything else on their product. From as many talented women they have signed, I have seen next to nothing that makes me want to see more from the AEW Women's Division. For example, they have signed Lucha Underground alumni Ivelisse and we haven't seen her at all. Sadie Gibbs had a pretty sweet vignette going on their iPPVs leading up to their last PPV prior to Dynamite starting on TNT but we haven't seen her on these television broadcasts either. From those reports that her and Bea Priestly had a legit brawl backstage following their last iPPV, that would have been great to play off on television the weeks following that. Instead, we get nothing from that.
After that cold finish to the Tag Team Championship Tournament, I think the hype behind AEW's tag team division has cooled down a bit. Luchasaurus is sidelined with an injury so their hottest act going into their weekly live television premiere is derailed. You have to be crazy to think that Marko Stunt and Jungle Boy can carry that team solo until he's back from injury. The Dark Order's gimmick is dead in the water, despite those two guys being solid workers. The Best Friends (along with Orange Cassidy) are over with AEW's niche crowd, but that gimmick isn't going to do anything to draw in any new or casual fans. Outside of SCU, Lucha Bros, and the Bucks and Santana & Ortiz (who are part of the main event scene surrounding Cody and Jericho), the rest of their tag division seem like cannon fodder on paper from what we've seen so far. I still have high hopes for Private Party who pretty much had their coming out party (no pun intended) during this tag team tournament. Glad to see that more people are seeing how great those guys are; same goes for Angelico and Jack Evans. On paper, AEW still has arguably the best tag team division from top to bottom in wrestling today. It's just a matter of getting this thing to catch fire once again.
If I have any major problem with AEW's product as it stands, it's the constant shots and references to WWE. Don't worry about them. You guys are better than that. Worry about your own shit then acknowledge them when your show is still alive and kicking a couple years after the fact. Otherwise, it comes off as the bitter ex-employees showing up in Impact Wrestling back in the early 2000s following the flop of the original Invasion angle. Then again, AEW's niche audience gets off on all of that and eat it up in droves. I'm not the type of wrestling fan that they are marketing to and selling their product towards. I'm not one of the fans who have followed the Elite guys throughout their entire indie careers and live and breathe off their Being The Elite YouTube content. As good as their content is in that avenue, it would be far more beneficial to provide that on these weekly broadcasts instead of expecting your fans to continue to seek out character development or introduction to your roster members on YouTube of all places. To be fair, I've praised stuff like Rosemary and Allie's Masters of the Multiverse series on YouTube in the past as it was great insights into their wrestling personas while at the same time it was NEVER canon nor required to whatever they had going on in their current wrestling feuds and angles across multiple promotions.
WWE NXT on USA Network
Here's the thing with NXT on USA Network now that they have been extended to two hours. I said this back when they started two weeks ago as a "head start" on AEW and I'll say it again now: that second hour is to their detriment. NXT is filled to the brim with talent at the Performance Center to the point where there's reports that they are even running out of lockers to give new talent down there, so it's to their benefit to have more television time to showcase all of the talent that they have down there. At the same time, I feel like these shows are dragging more and more as the weeks go on. Don't get me wrong. NXT's match quality is still in a league of its own every week, but between AEW and NXT, they both have the same problem of booking matches back-to-back with little to no filler or segments/vignettes to break things up. NXT has the novelty that most of their dedicated fanbase already know who majority of their featured talent is while AEW has the same issue going on with the redundancy of matches back-to-back with little to no filler. When both shows have taken the time to do promotional packages and/or vignettes for highlight ongoing feuds, introducing new characters, or simply hyping up an upcoming match it has been to both AEW and NXT's benefit.
I feel like they don't have to feel the need to compete with whatever AEW has going on simultaneously over on TNT. They could do whatever they were doing previously in terms of booking and still draw the same amount of fans watching NXT who were dedicated to the product from watching on the WWE Network on a weekly basis. There's no reason to stack these cards up like they are mini-TakeOver specials to "compete" with AEW Dynamite. The only thing they are doing is burning out both the audiences and the talent (with NXT already suffering with a few noteworthy injuries - Velveteen Dream's back injury and Adam Cole working hurt from his possible broken wrist injury) from this type of booking in the long haul.
WWE Hell in a Cell (Oct. 6, 2019)
Quick Results:
Natalya def. Lacey Evans by submission
Hell in a Cell Match for the WWE Raw Women's Championship - Becky Lynch (c) def. Sasha Banks by submission
Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns defeated Erick Rowan and Luke Harper
Randy Orton defeated Ali
Tag Team Match for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship - The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane) defeated Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross (c)
The Viking Raiders (Ivar and Erik) and Braun Strowman defeated The O.C. (AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson) by disqualification
Chad Gable defeated King Corbin
Singles match for the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship - Charlotte Flair defeated Bayley (c) by submission
Singles Match for the WWE Universal Championship - Seth Rollins (c) vs. "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt ended by referee stoppage
Long story short, this was a nothing PPV that was highlighted by the opener in Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks in HIAC, but the only thing everyone will remember about this show is the biblical level of stupidity in terms of WWE booking of the main event's finish. For the second year in a row, we have seen a HIAC match end in a no contest when this match has been historically known for going well beyond the limits of mere mortals. What this match came down to was that WWE realized that they booked themselves into a corner when they shouldn't have booked this match in the first place when they didn't want to beat the Fiend this early in his push. I don't see what was so hard to make about this decision. Seth Rollins has been putting his own foot into his mouth for months now after winning that title back and people want that thing off of him. Strap that rocket on the Fiend with the title win here and launch that dude to the moon. He's literally printing money for you people as long as you don't fuck this up, but low and behold, WWE finds a way to fuck shit up. And rightfully so, EVERYONE called WWE out on their stupidity here tonight.
Hey WWE, let us know if you need advice on how to craft logical and coherent storylines with satisfying finishes #HIAC
That's sad when even Brazzers of all people calls out your piss poor storylines and booking.
The only other thing of note from this show is that the loss to Charlotte Flair here would serve as the catalyst for Bayley's complete "transformation" into a heel on the following week of SmackDown! seven days later where she would win the SmackDown! Women's Championship right back.
This change was welcome and needed for a while now. I was hoping she was going to flip the fuck out like Tonya Harding but I'll take this for now.
Too bad Bayley had to shit the bed on the "explanation" for the change in her promo during MizTV the following week. One would think that she would have this whole heel turn planned out from as long they have been dragging their feet on doing the full turn/transformation.
Impact Wrestling
Bound For Glory 2019 Results & Afterthoughts
IMPACT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (NO DQ MATCH)
Brian Cage (c) defeated Sami Callihan
I was thoroughly entertained that Cage (dressed like X-Men's Wolverine with claws to boot) charged town to the ring and went straight to business after what Callihan did to his wife, Melissa Santos. FYI if you haven't seen their wedding played out on Impact Wrestling programming do yourself a favor and check that segment out as it's comedy gold at moments just from how all of the talent interacts with each other. As for this match itself, it's pretty much what we've come to expect from these two. Sami Callihan has a threshold for pain and punishment while Cage is almost invulnerable to the same treatment, completely no selling a sequence at the end of this match that I was convinced was the finish, only to kick out at one. That was up there with that finish in Lucha Underground that pissed me off where Pentagon broke both of his arms, did the Pentagon Driver on top of a few chairs, a Curb Stomp through a pile of cinder blocks, AND a damn Pentagon Driver through the table from the top rope only to end it there after all of that when any of those moves on their own could have ended it. I was convinced that Callihan would win the title here as the natural progression of this storyline, but I can see that they wanted Cage to defend his wife's honor in that respect with a successful title win. Either way, I was fine with how this ended with the nice image of Cage celebrating retaining the title by having his wife in the ring with him as the show came to a close.
Moose defeated Ken Shamrock
Shamrock is in amazing shape to say that his face has aged more than Sylvester Stallone's. That being said, this was a hit or miss match. At the same time, I didn't think the match didn't overstay it's welcome and wouldn't mind if Shamrock wanted to do another match or two. I mean, c'mon, Impact could use another OG veteran to help put over some of their younger talent.
IMPACT X-DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP (LADDER MATCH)
Ace Austin defeated Jake Crist (c), Tessa Blanchard, Daga, and Ace Romero to win the X Division Championship.
Even though I'm starting to tire with all of these "extreme" matches in modern wrestling, I'll admit that this was a fun match to watch play out. Tessa fit right at home with the boys and I have absolutely no problem with her competing with boys for the X-Division Championship. Ace Romero took a terrifying bump through those tables at ringside towards the end. I hope he's alright to say that they just signed that guy. I hope they would quit downplaying Daga and allow him to shine in the coming months. That was my biggest regret about him in Lucha Underground. He was part of Kobra Moon's Reptile Tribe, but I never felt like he had many chances to shine in that promotion when I have seen him work wonders with his athleticism in other Mexican promotions. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he gets to shine in Impact. Jake Crist is the bumping machine for oVe and that stable played their parts perfectly as the roadblock that denied Tessa Blanchard the title when I was convinced that she had this match won, only for Ace Austin to steal the win from underneath everyone's noses. I wasn't too keen on that guy when he first started in Impact, but I have been slowly warming up to him over the past few months. I'm just not a fan of his "flirting" with another man's wife angle as he's been trying to woo Alisha Edwards into his company.
Michael Elgin defeated Naomichi Marufuji
After his runs in New Japan, Michael Elgin is no stranger to working the strong style, but this was the match I wanted to see the most going in to this PPV anyway and it didn't disappoint. I wanted Marufuji to go over, but I understand why Elgin picked up the win as Impact are wisely establishing him as the next big thing to go after the World Title within the next few months.
IMPACT WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
The North (c) defeated Rich Swann & Willie Mack, and Rhino & Rob Van Dam
This match wasn't much to write home about as the main thing I remember about it was RVD's heel turn. I'm sure RVD fans can enlighten me but is this the first time in his career that he's gone heel? If so that's a welcome change in direction for him. I'm anxious to see where this goes.
IMPACT KNOCKOUTS CHAMPIONSHIP
Taya Valkyrie (c) defeated Tenille Dashwood
I was really surprised that Tenille Dashwood didn't win the title here. I was convinced that Taya was dropping the title and leaving the company like her husband John Morrison/Johnny Mundo/Johnny Impact did a few months prior. No idea on how many months she has left on her current Impact deal though. I'm surprised that she's still undefeated at this point as she's beaten just about every woman on their roster to keep that belt over the past year.
20-PERSON CALL YOUR SHOT GAUNTLET MATCH
Eddie Edwards wins and will receive a future title shot of his choosing.
DARK MATCH
The Rascalz (Trey, Wentz, and Dezmond Xavier) defeated Dr. Wagner Jr., Aerostar and Taurus
DARK MATCH
Madison Rayne defeated Shotzi Blackheart
This match was shown as part of the "We Are Impact" special on AXS TV along with the match with the Rascalz against Dr. Wagner Jr., Aerostar, and Taurus. Nothing much to write home about other than being two solid affairs, with this match being part of Shotzi's goodbye tour to the indies before committing full-time to NXT and the WWE Performance Center.
Impact Wrestling debuts on AXS TV
Fallah Bahh SPEAKS
I haven't laughed this hard in a while from Impact's product (in a good way), but this Rascals segment was well worth the watch.
Su Yung is now Suzie??
I didn't see the match where Havok allegedly "killed" Su Yung off but it's interesting to see her take the character into a different direction. Besides, let's be honest here. Impact has far too many "dark" or monster gimmicks for it's own good. It would do well to put a few on the bench for the time being and try different things. I'm curious to see where they go with this. I haven't seen Su play this gimmick since she dating Jerry "The King" Lawler.
Sami Callihan becomes the NEW Impact World Champion
He hit Cage with everything only for Cage to kick out at one in comical fashion, just like at the PPV a few days prior to this set of TV tapings. It wasn't until Sami hit him with an Avalanche Piledriver from the top rope was he able to put Cage away for the three count. Not a bad main event to close out their debut on AXS with, especially for a steel cage match.
I do think that they are jumping the gun on teasing Tessa Blanchard challenging him for the title right off the bat. I get that Tessa still has beef with oVe over the last few months, but I thought she was going to keep chasing for the X-Division Championship that she was screwed over from winning instead. The better idea would be to have her capture that title then cash in "Option C" to obtain the World title match against Sami at her own discretion.
NWA Powerrr!
Before you go into NWA Powerrr, I want to inform my readers of one thing. This is a studio wrestling show, shot and carried out like the classic days of yore. This is done to pay tribute to the history of our beloved sport and showcase this style of wrestling presentation to a new generation of fans while bringing back the fans who may have grew up on this style of wrestling. This revamp of the National Wrestling Alliance is spearheaded by the leadership of Billy Corgan and David Lagana.
Episode 1 | Tim Storm vs. Nick Aldis 3
Right off the bat, you're going to notice that this is a promo-heavy show, carried by the strength of its talkers. NWA has quite a few great talkers featured on this debut episode, including but not limited to Eli Drake, Eddie Kingston, The Wildcards (Royce Isaacs and Thom Latimer, who you may recognize Latimer as Bram from TNA/Impact Wrestling), and "Cowboy" James Storm.
I loved the retro graphics and name bars for the matches too. This style of presentation sets itself apart from everything else presented out there in wrestling today, regardless from the wealth of alternatives at our fingertips these days. NWA World Championship Match: Nick Aldis (w/ Kamille) def. Tim Storm, Storm cannot challenge for the NWA World Championship ever again
Great match to headline this opening episode. I think this was the best match that they have shown to date after seeing all of the episodes so far (outside of Episode 5) as of this posting. Do yourself a favor and go out of your way to check out this match.
Can I take a moment to comment on the fineness that is Kamille? Good Lord, Braun Strowman is a lucky man indeed.
Episode 2 | Clickbait
Aron Stevens’ debut
Colt Cabana and a surprise partner (Mr. Kennedy/ Ken Anderson) def. Jordan Kingsley and Sal Rinauro
Ricky Starks def. Trevor Murdoch
NWA Women’s Champion Allysin Kay def. Ashley Vox
NWA World Tag Team Champions The Wildcards vs. Eddie Kingston and Homicide ends in a No Contest
Another great episode, highlighted by the fact that these talents are allowed to be themselves instead of being handed a script to read. Those used to WWE style matches might be caught a little off-guard off some of the finishes here though as there's not many (if any) big near-falls. Matches are quick and decisive without the 50/50 booking nonsense.
FYI Aron Stevens is the former Damien Sandow from WWE working a Hollywood actor gimmick here. NWA Women's Champion Allysin Kay is none other than Impact Wrestling's Sienna and former Mae Young Classic competitor from the past year. Allisyn Kay excells at being at the top of her division. We saw that while she was in Impact Wrestling and it's a no brainer that Corgan would trust her to fill in the same role here. Trevor Murdoch is the same one from his tenures in both Impact Wrestling (briefly) and WWE. I was really happy to see him in a promotion like this. He fits in here like a glove.
Episode 3 | Twilight of Tim Storm
Marti Belle def. Crystal Rose
Aron Stevens debuts the first trailer of his film project "Tropical Pirates"
Caleb Konley def. Dan Parker
The Dawsons def. Eli Drake & Tim Storm
I enjoyed that they are continuing Tim Storm's "fall from grace" narrative. His peers still have the utmost confidence in his abilities but he still finds himself doubting if he still has "it" anymore. Eli Drake opted to pick up his spirits by asking him to be his partner to answer the Dawsons' challenge to anyone BUT Homicide and Eddie Kingston - to deny them payback from their attack in the previous episode.
Caleb Konley is the Impact Wrestling alumni of the same name. I thought he had potential back then too and anxious to see what they do with him here. I got a chuckle out of Stevens' trailer but I didn't think it was as hilarious as some people did on social media. Can't say I was expecting much from Belle since I haven't seen her work following her quick stint in the original Mae Young Classic, but what I saw here was a vast improvement.
Episode 4 | Dealer Calls Again
Trevor Murdoch def. Jocephus
The Dawsons def. Eddie Kingston & Homicide
Marti Belle def. Ashley Vox
Ricky Starks def. Aron Stevens
Nick Aldis, Colt Cabana, and Ken Anderson def. James Storm & The Wild Cards
I can't tell that Marti Belle has improved since her run in Impact Wrestling or appearance in the Mae Young Classic a few years ago, but this match didn't overstay it's welcome. Allisyn Kay's promo delivery was much better here than it was in the previous episode as you could tell they edited it because she botched her line or lost her train of thought. Thunder Rosa (formerly Kobra Moon in Lucha Underground) makes her debut post-match and extends a hand to Marti Belle who blows her off in that exchange.
Team Aldis' win grants Colt Cabana another shot at Jame Storm's North American title on the upcoming Episode 5.
Other News & Points of Interest:
The 2019 WWE Draft & SmackDown! Debut on FOX
This quickly devolved into a massive waste of time for two nights of WWE programming where there were no surprise moves taking place as everyone ended up where they were already at post-WrestleMania before the Wildcard rule turned everything into a clusterfuck from everyone just jumping over to whatever show they wanted whenever they wanted.
When they announced Brock Lesnar and Becky Lynch as one of the first two moves, I should have known they weren't changing shit, even though Brock to SmackDown! was a given after the fact that he squashed Kofi Kingston for the WWE Championship in seconds that very same night before Cain Valasquez debuted.
And it was at that moment, Kofi realized he fucked up...
Just like I told people the night that title changed occurred, let's count our blessings that Kofi was allowed to win the championship in the first place and managed to have a credible run with it for 6 months following WrestleMania when he wasn't in the original plans for WrestleMania this year in any shape or form before Ali got injured and KofiMania took fire. At the same time, I don't feel sorry for Kofi in the least as he didn't change a damn thing about his act or demeanor following the title win as he still came out throwing pancakes and dressing like a traveling goof. As a black man, I'm proud to see one of my own reach the top of the mountain in WWE, but at the same time, I can't feel sorry for Kofi in this situation in the least. One would think that he would change up his attitude and retool his gimmick with championship gold around his waist. Instead, he was content with maintaining the gimmick that got him there instead of going the extra mile to convince the company to do more with him after the hype train cooled down.
I don't understand why WWE blew their load on Cain coming in now when the guy needs knee surgery. They could have signed him then brought him in during WrestleMania season when it would have been a bigger deal. That being said, I can't say that I was really blown away by his performances in AAA that I happened to stumble across either. To me, it's just another big ex-UFC/MMA fighter signing taking away another opportunity from another deserving established talent on the roster, despite his previous history with Brock Lesnar.
The Jordan Myles Situation
I was with Myles 110% on the shirt design looking like a racist blackface depiction, but when he started dragging people into the mud who had nothing to do with this decision, including Ring of Honor (who has their own string of problems to contend with right now) and Jay Lethal (who recently broke his arm during ROH's recent UK show), it started to feel like this guy was fishing (and still is from his ongoing outbursts on social media) to get released/terminated from his contract with WWE. He seems to be dead set on being some sort of a martyr "#ForTheCulture" but I feel like how the message that you're trying to communicate to the masses can be tarnished on how you convey it too. Truth be told, I used to tweet back and forth with Myles all the time when he was in ROH to chit chat about anime and video games from time to time. I thought and still do think he's a pretty cool dude from our interactions in the past, so I don't want to come across as I know what he's been going through in his wrestling career. I just feel like there should have been a better way to handle this situation offline rather than "spilling the tea" all over social media. His intentions may have been pure, but that type of negative connotation will follow you for the rest of your professional career in and out of wrestling.
WWE has since pulled the shirt, only to replace it with a much less offensive design. I just think it's messed up that the design is still on a black shirt like they didn't get the memo the first time. That being said, I don't see how this is a surprise when we all have seen how WWE treats minorities for YEARS now.
WWE Crown Jewel (October 31, 2019) AKA Sweet Saudi Money IV: Please God No More...
Quick Results:
20-man Battle Royal with the Winner faced AJ Styles for the WWE United States Championship - Humberto Carrillo won by last eliminating Erick Rowan
WWE Championship Match - Brock Lesnar (c) (with Paul Heyman) def. Cain Velasquez (with Rey Mysterio) by submission
Nine-team Tag Team Turmoil match for the WWE Tag Team World Cup - The O.C. (Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson) def. The Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar), The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston), The Revival (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder), The B-Team (Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas), Heavy Machinery (Otis and Tucker), Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode, Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder, and Lucha House Party (Lince Dorado and Gran Metalik) (with Kalisto)
Mansoor def. Cesaro
Tyson Fury def. Braun Strowman by countout
WWE United States Championship Match - AJ Styles (c) (with Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson) def. Humberto Carrillo
Congratulations to Lacey and Nattie having this opportunity to do something really special in a foreign country like this. I'm sure we're not going to be allowed to forget this in terms of "first for women" in all of those promotional packages that Stephanie McMahon is going to shove down our throats for the years to come.
Natalya def. Lacey Evans by submission
Team Hogan (Roman Reigns, Rusev, Ricochet, Shorty G, and Ali) (with Hulk Hogan and Jimmy Hart) def. Team Flair (Randy Orton, King Corbin, Bobby Lashley, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Drew McIntyre) (with Ric Flair)
Falls Count Anywhere match for the WWE Universal Championship - "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt def. Seth Rollins (c), Match could not have been stopped for any reason
Outside of Brock Lesnar squashing Cain Valasquez in less than three minutes and the Fiend winning the Universal Championship, those were the only things of note that I took away from reading the results as I'm still continuing my personal protest of not watching these Saudi Arabia shows. I heard Cesaro vs. Mansoor was the best match of the night though in terms of match quality, but that's no surprise given Cesaro's talents. That dude knows how to make anyone look like a million bucks that he steps into the ring with. It blows my mind why WWE will never do much with that man.
I'll end with my thoughts on what we do know as of this posting of the Saudi Arabia situation that saw majority of WWE talent outside of Brock Lesnar, Paul Heyman, Vince McMahon, and a few "Top 20" talent being stranded in the foreign country due to some sort of "mechanical error" with the airplane(s). Reports from talent made them feel as if they were being held hostage as sort of bargaining chips in the middle of Vince McMahon's dealings (read: dick measuring contest) with the Saudi Prince. I honestly don't know all of the details as the story is still ongoing as of this posting, but I'll just say this much. Hearing stuff like this doesn't do anything for the company's morale, especially when you have guys like Myles popping off down in NXT - with whose talent are already upset at the lack of pay raises despite their move to the USA Network, along with other assorted malpractices in that company, ranging from piss poor booking decisions and lack of creative freedom only being the tip of the iceberg. According to Dave Meltzer, quite a number of talents are literally counting down the days until their contracts are up for they leave for greener pastures. When you hear more and more reports about stuff like this, I honestly can't blame them.
At least the roster was able to make it back stateside safe and sound and didn't wind up as "puddin'"... Unless you're Andrade if you catch my drift, eh?
And on that note my friends, I'm going to end this recap and bid you all adieu.
