AEW St. Patrick's Day Slam (March 17, 2021) -- Results & Afterthoughts

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. 

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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.

What happened did I win? #AEWDynamite

— Dani Jordyn (@DaniJordyn) March 18, 2021

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. 

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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.

AEW Revolution (March 7, 2021) -- Results & Afterthoughts | AEW Dynamite (3/10/21) -- Post-Revolution Fall-Out

AEW Revolution (2021) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It took place on March 7, 2021 at Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida, while the Street Fight was produced as a cinematic match and was broadcast pre-recorded at an undisclosed location. It was the second event in the Revolution chronology and was AEW's first PPV event held on a Sunday.

Nine matches were contested at the event, including one on The Buy In pre-show. In the main event, Kenny Omega defeated Jon Moxley in an Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch to retain the AEW World Championship. In other prominent matches, The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) defeated Chris Jericho and MJF to retain the AEW World Tag Team Championship, Hikaru Shida defeated Ryo Mizunami to retain the AEW Women's World Championship, and Darby Allin and Sting defeated Team Taz (Brian Cage and Ricky Starks) in a Street Fight, in what was both Sting's AEW in-ring debut and first match since September 2015, coming out of retirement. The event was also notable for the surprise appearances of Maki Itoh, Ethan Page, and Christian Cage, the latter two making their AEW debut.

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Match Results: 

The Buy-In Kick-Off: Tag Team Match
Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. and Maki Itoh (with Rebel) def. Riho and Thunder Rosa

This ended the recaps and video packages on the preshow with Britt Baker announcing the surprise appearance of Maki Itoh making her debut stateside in an AEW ring to fill in for the "injured" Rebel. This match wasn't more than your run of the mill women's match you would find on a typical week of Dynamite. Rebel would lend the assist with one of her crutches to aid the heels in a win. This match merely served to further the Thunder Rosa vs. Britt Baker feud - something the Women's Title Eliminator should have done. In all due respect to Ryo Mizunami and Nyla Rose, but Britt Baker and/or Thunder Rosa should have won that tournament. Allowing Shida to select and book her own challengers is booking malpractice at this point where common sense booking should have prevailed. 

The only positive to come out of this is that it seems we're getting a resolution to this feud between Thunder Rosa and Britt Baker in a non-sanctioned main event on the 3/17/21 episode of Dynamite, a first for the ladies of AEW. I wouldn't be surprised if Baker goes over there either, especially since Rosa has to wind down on her appearances with the NWA starting tapings after their upcoming restart PPV later this month. 

Tag Team Match for the AEW World Tag Team Championship

The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) (c) def. The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho and MJF) (with Wardlow)

What can I say here about this? It's a Young Bucks tag team match. It's either you love the dozens of spots, dives, and flips with even more near-falls/kickouts or you just don't like it at all. The only thing that really blew me away about this match was that the Bucks found a way to work with Jericho throughout the entire match to hide any signs that his out of shape ass was gassed within the first 5-10 minutes. MJF took majority of the abuse from the Bucks' offense here, but there wasn't a single moment where I was convinced that MJF and Jericho were going over, despite some outside interference from Wardlow. Jericho ended up eating the Meltzer Driver in the end, followed by the pin to allow the Bucks to retain - as he should in this situation. Everything Jericho has done since the Orange Cassidy feud has been absolutely a waste of his talents, especially when he came into this company at the start as the highest profile name on the entire roster. Now he's not even shadow of his former glory within the span of the past year. 

Later in the show, Jericho and MJF had a post-match interview where they announced that there will be a "War Council" meeting of the Inner Circle to discuss some much needed changes to the faction on the upcoming episode of Dynamite. Anyone with two functioning eyes could see that MJF was staring a hole through Jericho - making it more than obvious that he's going to perform a hostile takeover of the group.

Casino Tag Team Royale for a future AEW World Tag Team Championship match
Rey Fénix (representing Death Triangle) won by last eliminating Jungle Boy (representing Jurassic Express)

Two tag teams started the match. Every 90 seconds, a new team entered. A team was eliminated when both competitors of the team were thrown over the top rope and both feet hit the floor. The match continued until there was only one competitor or team remaining.

Draw	Team	Entrants	Order	Eliminated by	Eliminations
1	The Natural Nightmares	Dustin Rhodes	16	The Butcher, The Blade, The Bunny, and Luchasaurus	0
		QT Marshall	7	Himself	2
2	The Dark Order	Alan "5" Angels	1	Santana and Ortiz	0
		Preston "10" Vance	15	The Blade	0
3	The Inner Circle	Santana	12	Jungle Boy	3
		Ortiz	9	Jungle Boy	3
4	The Sydal Brothers	Matt Sydal	3	Santana and Ortiz	0
		Mike Sydal	2	Santana and Ortiz	0
5	The Dark Order	Evil Uno	13	Marko Stunt	0
		Stu Grayson	8	Bear Country	0
6	Gunn Club	Austin Gunn	5	QT Marshall	0
		Colten Gunn	6	QT Marshall	0
7	The Pretty Picture	"Pretty" Peter Avalon	4	Gunn Club	0
		Cezar Bononi	10	Luchasaurus	0
8	Varsity Blonds	Brian Pillman Jr.	14	The Butcher	0
		Griff Garrison	11	Luchasaurus	0
9	Bear Country	Bear Boulder	18	The Butcher	2
		Bear Bronson	19	The Butcher	2
10	Jurassic Express	Jungle Boy	29	Rey Fenix	5
		Luchasaurus	17	Bear Country	3
11	The Butcher and The Blade	The Butcher	23	Daniels and Kazarian	2
		The Blade	20	Pac and Fenix	1
12	Private Party	Isiah Kassidy	22	Reynolds and Silver	0
		Marq Quen	21	Pac and Fenix	0
13	SoCal Uncensored	Christopher Daniels	24	Rey Fenix	1
		Frankie Kazarian	26	Pac	1
14	Death Triangle {Team Winners)	Pac	28	Jungle Boy	3
		Rey Fenix	-	Individual Winner	5
15	The Dark Order	Alex Reynolds	25	Jungle Boy	1
		John Silver	27	Rey Fenix	1

Boy was this match a carnival act until the final two to three teams came out. I couldn't help but laugh at the Dark Order having not one but four separate entries into this match, only to still walk away with a loss. The final moments between Death Triangle and Jungle Boy was great though and the true highlight of this entire affair. 

That spot that I'm sure everyone under the sun has shared of Evil Uno overselling the hell out of that hurracanrana out of the ring from Marko Stunt should have had him laughed out of any locker room. I didn't understand why Dustin Rhodes was mad at QT Marshall for tossing out the Gunn Club. Everyone is in this match trying to fucking win and it's everyone for themselves, Nightmare Family members or not. Glad to see that they haven't lost the narrative on that storyline about if SCU lost another tag team match (non-battle royal) that they would split up for good. Ironic that they haven't had any matches on Dynamite. Instead, they have been regulated to Dark for the last few months. That's sad that the storyline/angle isn't getting more shine on TNT. 

Singles match for the AEW Women's World Championship

Hikaru Shida (c) def. Ryo Mizunami

This wasn't a bad match. It just began to drag on a bit towards the end where both Shida and Mizunami did far too many near-falls for my taste. How many of these title matches have we seen at this point where Shida has to hit that Shining Wizard/Flying Knee that she does at least 2-5 times before she puts her opponent down? I have honestly lost count myself personally. 

Shida girl, we love you but it's time to retire that Final Fantasy VII Remake-inspired ring gear and come out with something else. 

Tag Team Match

Miro and Kip Sabian (with Penelope Ford) def. Best Friends (Orange Cassidy and Chuck Taylor) by submission

This was a complete waste of time. While I applaud Miro for his renewed aggression, this was a match that could have been on the Buy-In or on Dynamite the prior or following week - if anyone cared enough about it. I'm more shocked that they are continuing with this partnership between Miro and Kip Sabian after Kip and Penelope got married. I get that all five of these people don't have anything else going on, but you can't tell me that they couldn't find anything else for these people to be doing. Miro should be ripping guys apart on that roster like a phone book instead of doing this lame Twitch gamer/streamer feud with Chuck Taylor and Orange Cassidy. It's a waste of talent between everyone involved. 

Big Money Match

Winner receives the loser's 2021 first-quarter earnings.

"Hangman" Adam Page def. "Big Money" Matt Hardy

Whether it's "Broken", "Woken", or "Big Money" Matt Hardy, it seems like none of these schizophrenic gimmick changes for Matt Hardy are working. It's hilarious to me that the same people who are raving about this "Big Money" Matt Hardy gimmick were some of the same people who were laughing at it when he did the same thing in IMPACT Wrestling. Now it just seems like he's playing the part of a sleezy business manager, taking advantage of the talents that he employs. Much like the match before it, this was another nothing match that could have been on the episode of Dynamite prior or after this PPV or simply another match on the Buy-In earlier.

The only positives to come out of this match was a decisive win for Adam Page and potential for some hilarious segments featuring Page and the members of the Dark Order that he has befriended spending Matt Hardy's first-quarter earnings.

Face of the Revolution Ladder Match for a future AEW TNT Championship match

Scorpio Sky def. Cody Rhodes (with Arn Anderson), Penta El Zero Miedo, Lance Archer (with Jake Roberts), Max Caster, and Ethan Page

I can't say that I was too surprised to see Ethan Page as the mystery final entrant in this match. He left IMPACT Wrestling a few months ago in huff after whining about how his final feud against the Karate Man didn't go as he imagined it, especially when people shit all over the "special effects" in that Mortal Kombat-inspired clusterfuck. I don't see how he's going to stand out on this roster when people were calling him discount/Great Value Brand MJF when he was in IMPACT. I guess we'll have to wait and see. 

Everything in this match was skewed towards Scorpio Sky winning it. He was the only one who was constantly climbing up the ladder and nearly pulling down the "brass ring"  - yet another painful WWE "cute" jab/insider reference - at every opportunity. There were some interesting spots to be had here, but let's be realistic here for a moment and ask this question. Is there anything left in these matches to do that hasn't been done to death already?

I have to wonder exactly how "hurt" is Cody's shoulder when he's still going all in like this in matches, especially in a punishing match type such as this. Shouldn't he be gearing up to take some time off to be with his wife Brandi for the birth of their first child? But whatever, it's his life after all. 

 

Street Fight

Darby Allin and Sting def. Team Taz (Brian Cage and Ricky Starks) (with Hook and Powerhouse Hobbs)

Right off the bat, the biggest thing that stuck out about this match was that it was shot like a segment in Lucha Underground. From what I have read after the fact, Darby Allin was putting his film editing talents to use here and tailored the match his liking on the cutting room floor. I thought it was fucking stupid that the commentary team were talking over this match as if it was live, when it was clearly taped in advance. If I had paid to see this event live, I would have been royally pissed off to see that this was taped when AEW made no announcement that Sting wasn't wrestling live on this show. 

Speaking of Sting, I thought his weaknesses and shortcomings were hidden well here. This match was for him what the Boneyard Match was for The Undertaker last year against AJ Styles. Ricky Starks played the role that Styles did with Taker, making sure to take care of the Legend every step of the way and made sure he looked like a million bucks. Between everyone playing to their strengths and the visual presentation of this match, it easily made for the best thing on this entire PPV in my honest opinion. That's surprising too as one would think that people would be sick of cinematic matches after WWE abused them over the past year. 

Between getting their asses kicked for two weeks in a row prior to this PPV and losing here, I can't see how anyone believes that Team Taz has any street credibility left in any shape nor form. Their entire team came down to lay waste to Darby and the 60+ year old Sting and still couldn't get the job done. I can't knock AEW on the decision to make Sting and Darby go over as that made the most logical sense, especially for Sting's first official match back in over 5 years. All that I'm saying is that Team Taz need to start racking up some wins after this is all said and done. This should be a group of killers, not guys who keep running from a 60+ year old man every week like a bunch of cowards.

Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch for the AEW World Championship

Kenny Omega (c) (with Don Callis) def. Jon Moxley

When it comes to these "deathmatches" between Moxley and Omega, I haven't been a fan of not a single one of their matches between the two of them. This is another that adds to that list. I don't think they have good chemistry together and I don't feel like neither man compliments the other's fighting style to both of their detriment. I did appreciate the small attentions to detail throughout this match as there were explosions that were triggered each time someone was thrown into the barb wire ropes or when someone went through the tables covered in barb wire at ringside. 

Sadly, the only thing that everyone will remember this match and this entire PPV for is how it ended. After Omega retained the title after an assist from the Good Brothers, they beat the holy hell out of Moxley and leave him for dead in the middle of the ring as the timer is counting down for the timed explosion to destroy the ring. Eddie Kingston (Moxley's former best friend) ran out and dove on top of Moxley, covering him up with his own body while covering his own head like a tactical nuke is about to go off. 

At least we know that Kingston still cares, despite how stupid this was. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall to hear how pissed him and Moxley were when the explosion was a dud. 

The timer reaches zero and absolutely nothing goes off.

As a result, Kingston looks like a complete dumbass for sitting in the ring selling the "explosion" as the show faded to black with the medical personnel tending to him like he took a bullet for Moxley. Meanwhile, no one's tending to Moxley, who is a bloody mess as a result of this match and the post-match attack from the Good Brothers. 

What makes this situation pathetic is that Tony Khan tried to sell it off as "Kenny Omega and Don Callis' poorly constructed death trap designed in crayons" when this is a company that never attempts to maintain any sort of kayfabe/believability when it comes to their storylines. The only thing they had to do was to own up that they fucked up and we'll try to do better next time. It's not hard. People make mistakes; nobody's perfect. Instead, AEW gave this piss poor excuse to their audience like everyone watching this show is as stupid as how WWE treats their "fans" from week to week. 

Closing Thoughts

Like previously mentioned, the only thing that people are going to remember from this show is the hilariously awful ending to this PPV after they hyped up the spectacle of an exploding barbed wire deathmatch to no end. Imagine how Onida has to be feeling after they paid him to promote that crap... 

 

Christian Cage is now All Elite. 

The ending of this show aside, I really felt sorry for Christian Cage. He came out without any fanfare, despite the fact I know I marked out when I was watching live and heard his old TNA theme (at least a remix of it anyway) playing over the speakers when he unceremoniously walked down to the ring, signed the contract and left without saying a single word. They couldn't cut time from any of these matches to give him like 5-10 minutes of time to speak to the live crowd? I mean, well shit. Thanks for comin', I guess. 

Facts. 

I don't blame him for people being disappointed and/or underwhelmed by his debut either. That's all on AEW sending Paul Wight out there saying he's Hall of Fame worthy, high-profile talent. Of course people's minds went into overdrive thinking on the levels of CM Punk or Brock Lesnar signing with them. Christian Cage's signing didn't go over as badly like the "fart in church" like the ending of this PPV, but AEW's typical means of overhyping their new signings was to their own detriment here. It would have made a bigger impact if they didn't say anything and Christian just showed up as a surprise in the middle of this PPV to sign his contract. 

There were some decent matches on this card, but majority of this show was stuff that could have been saved for Dynamite if we're perfectly honest. I do applaud them for making Sting's in-ring return for the first time in five years a sight to behold. 

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AEW Dynamite on TNT

(3/10/21)

Match Results: 

“Hijo del Fuego” Rey Fenix (3-2 singles) w/PAC def. Matt Jackson (0-0 singles) w/Nick Jackson

Much like a lot of the Young Bucks' matches, you can toss the Lucha Bros.' matches into the same category of either you're going to love it or hate it. It's going to be fast-paced with a lot of high-spots, flips, dives, and near-falls with a lot of it not making much sense, but it's cool to look at. That's not a knock against those guys as they do a lot of spectacular shit in these matches, especially Fenix, but sometimes I wish they would slow it down and try to put a sensible, cohesive match together someday. 

It drives me nuts too because I know Fenix is capable of it when he had logical matches in Lucha Underground that weren't all high spots. He can slow down and work smarter too. It's just that AEW's style allows these guys to work without any rules or logic behind a lot of these matches. 

Backstage, Eddie Kingston and Jon Moxley ATTEMPT to explain what happened at the end of Revolution. 

I could buy into Kingston's promo and this pretty much solidified the babyface turn for him in my eyes. Thank goodness too as I thought he was rotting away being associated with The Butcher, The Blade, and The Bunny. The only thing that I could knock in this great promo from both guys is that they had to make that snide remark against IMPACT (a company that they are working with no less) by saying that they probably paid for the bomb. 

“The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes w/Arn Anderson def. Seth Gargis

This match ends faster than a hiccup before Cody is interrupted by Pentagon (dressed to the nines in a sharp business suit in the audience with a translator) challenging him to a match next week on Dynamite. Sure, whatever, I'm game for this despite feeling like this feud came out of nowhere. 

I have NO idea what Lance Archer and Jake Roberts were talking about when they interrupted Sting. If they are going for a Sting/Lance program then my vote is on "all kinds of no". Let Sting work with someone else instead of another big guy that could probably put him on the shelf for good after doing something stupid in the ring. 

This company has no fucking idea on what to do with Lance Archer. Some weeks he's in the right place and right match across the ring with the right opponent then another week he's running out, beating up random guys for no reason. For Christ's sake, pick ONE program for him and see it to its end instead of more of this schizophrenic booking. 

“All Ego” Ethan Page def. Lee Johnson

The audio issues continued through the entrances and the first few minutes of the match and are fixed when they come back from break. 

The audio issues were too distracting from whatever NBA game that was piping through so I was more paying attention to NXT at this point. 

I did laugh at Adam Page showing up on the lawn mower that he bought with Matt Hardy's money before the Dark Order rode on that thing with him. 

Christian Cage is supposed to be coming out for a promo but Kenny Omega, The Good Brothers and Don Callis come out instead. 

The heels try to ham it up as the explosion at the end of Revolution went all according to plan, all while making fun of Kingston and Moxley. Omega even had the face palm-worthy line of the week, "69 me, Don!" before they reenacted the finish of that PPV to cringe-inducing results as they dry humped each other in a 69 position while the overhead cameras shot all of this. I cannot fathom how anyone is behind Kenny Omega as a heel. He's not a good heel. He's one of those go-away and get the fuck off my television level heels in the vein of Jinder Mahal. Yes, I went there. Say what you will about Omega's in-ring ability, but him on the microphone isn't it at all. Here's another thing that blatantly stupid about this: they have the cinematography eye and technical knowledge to frame this well and do something as extravagant as the cinematic match between Sting and Darby against Team Taz at Revolution, but they fuck up money shots during spots ALL THE FUCKING TIME on these shows. Jesus Christ, get your priorities in order. 

I felt this segment took away all of the stink that Kingston and Moxley took off of the finish of Revolution at the start of the show, only to remind people how fucking stupid it was when Kingston and Moxley had already remedied that situation for the most part. 

The whole segment ended with Moxley and Kingston brawling off screen with the Good Brothers while Christian Cage sneaked into the ring to size up Kenny Omega. It seems like they are teasing this to be Cage's first program and I don't know why they are setting him up for failure right off the bat. 

If you asked me a few weeks ago, I would have laughed off the Dixie Carter and TNA/IMPACT Wrestling comparisons from about 15 years ago, but right now, Tony Khan is running his company almost in a mirror image to that train wreck. At least Dixie brought in Sting and Christian into her company when they weren't nearing the end of their mileage in terms of their name value and what they could offer to this young talent roster. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that Christian gets to have a last run in the limelight on his own terms - outside of the shadow of Edge and in a company that appreciates and knows how much his talents are worth. I'm just not a fan of immediately setting him up for failure in this feud for the AEW World title right off the bat. I don't understand why AEW insists on feeding guys to their champions right off the bat, only to "rehabilitate" them later then wonder why they aren't over anymore. After they had that first big loss at the title, how can you expect fans to still care about them after the fact? Unless you're already big fans of said talent(s), then it's hard to invest into that character when you see them lose at the first big opportunity. It's the same mistake that WWE does time and time again with their 50/50 booking that people criticize them for, yet wonder why no one is getting over today. 

Trios Match

Thunder Rosa, Hikaru Shida & Ryo Mizunami def. Dr. Britt Baker DMD , Nyla Rose & Maki Itoh w/Vickie Guerrero & Rebel

Watching the start of this match live, I couldn't facepalm and shake my head any harder than I did when the other girls involved into this match erupted into a brawl while Maki Itoh stood on the stage and sung her entire entrance routine. Shida came up onto the stage to intervene, only for Maki to give her the most polite, gentle mic shot I have ever seen in wrestling while Shida was left selling it like she got shot. Holy fucking shit this was stupid. 

At this point, I just don't fucking get it about the grand fascination with Maki Itoh outside of she dresses like she's the wrestling equivalent to Misa Amane from Death Note. I'm curious to see how many people catch that reference... 

Matt Hardy says that Adam Page stole from him but he has more than enough money to sustain their business through April 1. Page says he is adding a new addition to their group and introduces The Butcher and The Blade. He says they are going to destroy The Dark Order.

TNT Championship Match

Darby Allin (c) def. Scorpio Sky

Sky cashes in his big brass donut ring tonight for a shot at the TNT Championship. Once again, Sky falls short, only to go berserk following the loss, signaling his heel turn. If his demeanor during his guest commentary spot last week on Dynamite were any clue to go by then this turn shouldn't have been much of a surprise. It's a welcome change too because we've Sky challenge for the TNT title time and time again, only to have it slip between his fingers each and every time. 

I do want to applaud Darby and Sky for having the best match on this entire show. They had their high spots and dives here, but it wasn't just all spots like the opener. Darby got "hurt" early on into the match and Sky sunk his teeth into the wound like any predator should to work it throughout the entire match. This made for a great narrative from bell to bell here. While I don't necessarily want to see guys work a body part in every match, I do would like to see matches make sense in a narrative sense instead of coming across as entirely chaotic. 

The Inner Circle's "War Council" meeting in-ring to close out the show

The Inner Circle comes out down to the ring for their “War Council.” Everything is skewed towards MJF turning the Inner Circle's members against Chris Jericho, despite Sammy Guevara's warnings, only to swerve everyone that MJF's scheming has backfired with the entire Inner Circle reunited against him. That turns into a swerve onto a swerve (or rather a hat on a hat in terms of execution) when MJF reveals that he has been recruiting the talents to make his own faction to take out the Inner Circle right under their noses. That's when they are all laid out by FTR (w/ Tully Blanchard), Shawn Spears, and Wardlow. On paper this seems like a good idea with MJF leading his own Four Horseman-like faction, but Spears is the odd man out. Don't get me wrong. I raved about Spears when he was Tye Dillinger in NXT, but everything he did on the main roster of WWE (or lack of thereof...) to the sheer nothingness he's done in AEW since it's inception - outside of legitimately busting open the back of Cody's head with that botched chair shot - hasn't done anything for me or anyone else to make him feel deserving of this spot within this faction. They had already planted the seeds for Adam Page to be part of this group when they were toasting together with Arn Anderson nodding approvingly during FTR's contract signing. That felt like a wasted opportunity. 

Who knows, maybe I'm getting ahead of myself and Adam Page will be recruited for this faction down the road? This seems like the perfect position for Wardlow to be in for whenever he breaks off as a singles star after splitting away from MJF - in the same vein as Batista in Evolution. 

On a positive note, I'm glad that they went with MJF to lead this faction instead of Cody as how it seemed like they were leaning towards initially. I think Cody realized that he would definitely end up with the Jeff Jarrett (from the start of TNA/IMPACT Wrestling) comparisons if he ended up being the leader of a faction with the wealth of potential like this. 

Standing together, this group doesn't look too bad TBH...

Despite the awkward execution, I liked this ending to Dynamite this week with this new faction setting the stage for what is to come. Rumors of the spoilers to the upcoming episode of Dynamite for 3/17/21 says that they are calling this faction "The Pinnacle" and I really hope they don't go with that name. I liked the name that FTR went with when they had that toast with Adam Page last year - "The Mid-Atlantic". It would be a clever throwback to the territory days. 

Note: As of this posting (3/18/21), "The Pinnacle" is the name that they actually went with, so yeah...

AEW All Out (Sept. 5, 2020) -- Results & Afterthoughts

All Out was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It took place on September 5, 2020 at Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida. It was the second event in the All Out chronology.

The event was originally slated to take place in the Sears Center, in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, just like the previous edition of All Out were held Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker issued a disaster proclamation, the state's equivalent to a state of emergency, since March 9, which banned large public gatherings due to the COVID-19 pandemic that affected the state. Instead, the event was moved to Daily's Place, where all of AEW's events have been held since March.

Eleven matches were contested at the event, including two on The Buy In pre-show. In the main event, Jon Moxley defeated MJF to retain the AEW World Championship. In other prominent matches, Orange Cassidy defeated Chris Jericho in a Mimosa Mayhem match, FTR (Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood) defeated Kenny Omega and Adam Page to win the AEW World Tag Team Championship, and Hikaru Shida defeated Thunder Rosa to retain the AEW Women's World Championship.

---

Match Results:

Singles Match

Joey Janela (with Sonny Kiss) def. Serpentico (with Luther)

A completely rotten match won by arguably the worst talent (or lack of) on the entire AEW roster with the second place candidate taking the L here. I have remotely no clue why you would even start your PPV off with a completely "nothing" match like this that does absolutely NOTHING to garner interest in buying the PPV later tonight.

I remember chatting with a friend and saying that Sonny Kiss was great back in Lucha Underground, but I feel that him being associated with Janela is going to only bring him down. Kiss' glass ceiling is going to be whether or not the TNT Network (and more importantly mainstream wrestling as a whole) is ready to accept an extremely flamboyant wrestler (that's not a complete gimmick nor parody) as a serious competitor. He fit right in with the exoticos in Lucha Underground, but it's hard for me to tell what his shelf life is going to be in this company long-term.

Tag Team Match

Private Party (Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen) def. The Dark Order (Alex Reynolds and John Silver)

I couldn't give a flying fuck about this match. It's the same as every other Private Party match, but just against the bottom of the rung guys in the Dark Order. The boys in PP do some nice spots but their basics STILL need a lot of work.

I LOVE Private Party's finish though.

I still can't help but chant "SPOTS! SPOTS! SPOTS!" during their entrance theme now after making that joke a while back.

Tooth and Nail Match

Big Swole def. Britt Baker (with Rebel) by knockout

I'm sure Big Swole is a nice person outside of wrestling in her personal life, but as an onscreen character and an in-ring talent, she's fucking horrible. I don't see why this company invested so much time into this nothing feud. While I love Britt Baker's heel persona, I'm fed up with all of these "role models" in mainstream wrestling, whether it's Madison Rayne in IMPACT as the "Locker Room Leader", Sasha Banks & Bayley in WWE as the "Golden Role Models", and here with Baker as the "Roll Model". I'm just sick and fed up of hearing that shit. Come up with something else original that not everyone and their grandmothers are using right now. I want to add that as much as I like Britt Baker's heel persona, I never thought her in-ring skills were much to write home about either, despite the fact she has a pretty sick submission finish. Reba's reactions (Rebel) was the best thing about this "cinematic" match - if you could even call it that. If this was supposed to be a dig at WWE's cinematic matches, then they definitely have a lot to learn in terms of cinematography.

Britt Baker stabbing herself with her own needle that loaded with numbing agent.

Britt Baker lost the match after falling victim to her own laughing gas/sedation.

At the end of the day, I thought the finish was creative, but Britt Baker buried it when she woke up immediately following the decision. She's a fucking dentist after all, so she should know how long laughing gas/sedation would keep someone under. C'mon, now. In either case, I'm ready for both of these women to move on to another feud. 

Tag Team Match
The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) def. Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus) (with Marko Stunt)

I hate to admit it, but I honestly liked this match more than the AEW Tag Title match later in this show. It didn't overstay it's welcome and it showed the best of both teams here, even though I wasn't too crazy about how much stuff Jungle Boy was kicking out of at the end. I thought the Jurassic Express should have pulled off the upset towards the end, but of course, the BTE boys had to turn things around for the win. To their credit though, I like seeing them working with a more serious "edge" them now as if they are teasing a heel turn too, much like they have been planting the seeds to the point that it's inevitable with Kenny Omega for the last few months now.

21-man Casino Battle Royale

Winner received a future AEW World Championship match

Lance Archer won by last eliminating Eddie Kingston

Casino Battle Royale entrances and eliminations

Draw	Entrant	Order	Eliminated by	Eliminations
Clubs	Trent	9	Lance Archer	1
	Christopher Daniels	2	Jake Hager	0
	Jake Hager	6	Sonny Kiss	1
	The Blade	1	Will Hobbs	0
	Rey Fenix	4	Darby Allin	0
Diamonds	Frankie Kazarian	12	The Butcher	1
	Will Hobbs	16	Lance Archer	1
	Chuck Taylor	5	Santana and Ortiz	0
	Santana	8	Trent?	1
	Ortiz	10	Lance Archer	1
Hearts	Billy	3	Brian Cage	0
	Penta El Zero M	11	Frankie Kazarian	0
	Ricky Starks	13	Darby Allin	0
	Brian Cage	17	Lance Archer	3
	Darby Allin	14	Brian Cage	2
Spades	Shawn Spears	15	Matt Sydal	0
	Eddie Kingston	20	Lance Archer	1
	The Butcher	18	Matt Sydal	1
	Sonny Kiss	7	Brian Cage	1
	Lance Archer	-	Winner	5
Joker	Matt Sydal	19	Eddie Kingston	2

I'm not even laughing at that. That fall legitimately scared the shit out of me seeing it live. #AEWAllOut https://t.co/V38CFA1OOH

— Let's Talk Wrestling (@LetsTalkWrestle) September 6, 2020

Matt Sydal pulled the Joker card and made his AEW debut in this match, only to deliver the first scary as hell moment on this show when he slipped and fell off the ropes while attempting to do a Shooting Star Press. That scared the hell out of me seeing it live and I thought we were watching that guy break his neck from how bad that was. Fortunately, he was fine and was able to complete the match. As of this posting (9/11/20) he hasn't reported any injuries.

Introducing Will Hobbs. One of AEW's best kept secrets tucked away on AEW Dark...

This match marked the standout performance of Will Hobbs. Now where have they been hiding this guy? Dude was on par with Big E's size while showing off Keith Lee's power and ability. This is a guy they should be featuring on Dynamite instead of regulating to Dark every week.

Seems like AEW is just pairing people off to rekindle old Lucha Underground dynamics and/of feuds as that was the exact vibe I got from Sonny Kiss eliminating Jake Hager. Kiss/Janela are already booked to face Hager/Jericho on Dynamite this week as payback from Jericho's brutal attack on Janela the week prior in his "warm-up" match for Cassidy later tonight.

Darby Allin is put in a bodybag, tossed out of the ring by Brian Cage and reportedly injured. #AEWAllOut pic.twitter.com/LqAfpEy4v7

— GIFSkull IV - Banned Soon Due to False DMCA Spam (@GifSkullIV) September 6, 2020

Stupidest bump of the night (up to this point anyway) went to Brian Cage performing a Border Toss on Darby Allin trapped within a body bag full of thumb tacks to land on the corner of the stage/ramp. There was absolutely no reason to do this bump but a million and one ways that this could have ended horribly wrong. This wasn't cool nor amazing to watch. It was just fucking stupid.

I was fine with Lance Archer picking up the win here, but it pretty much spoiled the main event in a sense. You knew that AEW are marks for that New Japan style matches and feuds, so you know that they want to setup the Wrestle Kingdom rematch between Lance Archer and Jon Moxley at Full Gear.

Broken Rules Match

Matt Hardy def. Sammy Guevara

Had Hardy lost, he would have had to leave AEW

The match started out into the stadium arena where the Stadium Stampede Match took place at their last PPV and quickly spilled out into the backstage area/parking area. One thing led to another that set Sammy and Matt up on a raised platform that saw Sammy SPEAR Matt Hardy off the platform, seemingly to go through the two tables that were set up below. What happened instead was their lower bodies hit ONE of the tables while the back of Matt Hardy's head hit the unforgiving concrete below.

Here's the Matt Hardy spot #AEWAllOut pic.twitter.com/HHNiDaxD9V

— WrestleZone on Mandatory (@WRESTLEZONEcom) September 6, 2020

This was the moment where I was absolutely disgusted with this company. I've seen wrestling podcasters, journalists, wrestlers, and even the die-hard of their fanbase express their absolute disgust with how AEW handled this situation.

Let me be absolutely fucking clear.
There is NOTHING entertaining about a concussion. Shame on everyone in that goddamn building. pic.twitter.com/ujdOU9Z60I

— Reby Hardy (@RebyHardy) September 6, 2020

Reading is fundamental, you absolute asshat.

Matt was the #1 idiot in this scenario.
I’ll let you figure out who #2 was.

Also, fuck you. https://t.co/vnUVNRWuPg

— Reby Hardy (@RebyHardy) September 6, 2020

They needed additional imaging done after his CT. He’s still in the hospital. 1000% concussion. Anyone with eyes could have told you that tho. pic.twitter.com/pvitxewWI5

— Reby Hardy (@RebyHardy) September 6, 2020

As of this posting (9/11/20), Reby Hardy (Matt's wife) has reported that Matt Hardy has suffered a concussion when he was checked out at the hospital that evening and was kept for more testing Sunday. On the other end of things, Tony Khan has been removing all of the blame on himself and pointing it towards the ring doctor who checked Hardy out and clarified that Matt was able to continue after administering a concussion impact test. There's no way in hell that they ran an impact test when the match was restarted within the span of 3-4 minutes after Matt Hardy was knocked out unconscious for at least 45 seconds. That tells you right there that there's no sort of concussion protocol in place nor that Tony Khan have the slightest idea of how to administer one, despite the fact that he owns a fucking football team. This entire incident showed me a complete lack of proper leadership and this money mark - that's all what he is at this point to me - only cares about booking his fantasy matches and jerking off to high spots no matter who gets hurt as long as it pops a rating. It's HIS fucking company. He could have easily overruled the doctor to stop this match. Stipulation or not, this match should have been stopped the moment Matt Hardy was knocked unconscious for his own safety. Instead, Khan is giving his company a very bad look not only to his fanbase but to the wrestling industry as a whole for this false narrative that he is painting with how this entire situation played out Saturday night.

But yet, you have ass-hats out there like Dave Meltzer is siding with Tony Khan on this decision.  Like seriously, how much is that dude paying you to blow him every week in your writing and radio shows dude? Anyone with a fully functioning brain could tell that Matt Hardy suffered a concussion in that match. You could see it in Ref Aubrey's face when it turned pale when she trying to get him to respond. That was arguably the hardest moment to watch as wrestling fan out of my 30+ years of being a fan. When I saw Matt Hardy's head hit that concrete and his body stiffened up like he was frozen, I thought we just saw that man die live on PPV and it legitimately scared the shit out of me for the second time tonight during this broadcast. If I saw a man die on this broadcast tonight, I can guarantee you that I would not have come back to watch this sport again.

For me personally? I'm siding with Konnan and Disco Inferno on this discussion.

Seriously, this should be the last straw and wake up call for every fan out there that fails to realize week to week that these reckless, downright STUPID, and completely unnecessary bumps (especially with or without crowds) aren't needed to make any match any better. That doesn't just go for AEW, but for all of modern wrestling as a whole.

Singles match for the AEW Women's World Championship

Hikaru Shida (c) defeated Thunder Rosa

I was hyped for this match ever since it was announced and they did the mock MMA contract signing for it between both respective champions.

Watching this live was pretty darn tough after the horror show that we witnessed with the Matt Hardy situation, but Rosa and Shida definitely had my favorite match of the evening by far. If you don't watch anything else from this shit-storm of a PPV, go out of your way to watch this match. This is EASILY the best thing on this show and not only the second best women's match in this company's history. That's shocking too when Thunder Rosa and Serena Deeb killed it on Dynamite a few days prior to this event.

Another completely unnecessary, reckless bump that could have EASILY ended horribly, like many things on this card.

The only knock I have against this match was the diving senton spot out onto the stage where if Thunder Rosa's head and neck was any closer to those steps from the entrance ramp that Shida would've killed or paralyzed her from the landing. Can ANYONE in this fucking company tell these people enough is enough when it comes to these reckless and completely unnecessary bumps? Seeing that spot really made me mad, especially after what we saw with Matt Hardy in the match prior to this.

Outside of that one knock, this match raised the bar for women's wrestling in this company. I felt sorry for the folks who had follow this act. NWA's Thunder Rosa may have lost here, but she has put on two standout performances in every match AEW has featured her in.

Eight-Man Tag Team Match

Matt Cardona, Scorpio Sky, and The Natural Nightmares (Dustin Rhodes and QT Marshall) (with Allie and Brandi Rhodes) def. The Dark Order (Brodie Lee, Colt Cabana, Evil Uno and Stu Grayson) (with Anna Jay)

This was easily the bathroom break match of the night and should have served as the buffer following the Matt Hardy situation. Piss poor match order placement in regard of having these matches following that event. If the crowd was struggling to cope with what had transpired in the last match then they really didn't care about this shit. I know I sure as hell didn't. Hell, I didn't even know that Brodie Lee was even in this match until it started. I thought it was going to be full of more of standard losers of the Dark Order. To be fair though, Stu Grayson and Evil Uno are decent workers. I'll give them that much, but they are saddled with this gimmick that is utter shit, no matter what AEW does to polish this turd.

Can someone explain to me why Brandi Rhodes is already back to managing the Natural Nightmares? She couldn't sell that attack that her and Cody suffered for a few weeks at least? She stayed out for what felt like a goddamn week or two only to show up at the PPV like nothing happened. She only came out here to contribute to some of the run-ins in this match, namely to get some payback on Anna Jay (who strangled her to death during the assault on Cody) - when Allie could have done that to the same capacity. The Nightmare Family has all of these managers and extra sidekicks and associates that they are starting to look as foolish as the Dark Order as the weeks and months have rolled on since the start of AEW. Speaking of friends, Matt Cardona sure looks like he's taking full advantage of not being tested on WWE's Wellness Policy. Scorpio Sky seemed like he was just there to be the extra guy on this mash-up of guys who needed to be in this filler match that should have been relegated to Dynamite the following week.

Jim Ross got a lot of heat online for his wardrobe malfunction comment he made towards Anna Jay on commentary. I laughed hearing it live, but at the same time, it just adds to the laundry list of questionable moments of him on commentary since signing with this company. It just adds to the proof that JR doesn't give a flying fuck working here as long as he's just collecting that fat paycheck while squandering away his own credibility by endorsing this tomfoolery going on in this company with his name and voice attached to it.

And for the record, I can't speak for anyone else, but while I think that Dustin Rhodes has had a career renaissance since the tail end of his last WWE run to now in terms of his ring work, I don't give a damn about seeing him face Brodie Lee for the TNT title on Dynamite. I don't understand why they are rushing this match, along with having Brandi coming back so soon, when they could afford to space this out a bit. Let the Dark Order breathe a bit and garner more big wins if they are so dead set on establish them as this "dominant" faction (laughs), even though they are no less threatening than Aces & Eights (BEFORE Bully Ray was revealed as the leader) at this point.

Tag Team Match for the AEW World Tag Team Championship

FTR (Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood) (with Tully Blanchard) defeated Kenny Omega and Adam Page (c)

I watched this match twice - once live and again a few days later to make sure I didn't miss anything. I don't fault the talents involved, but I didn't think this was a very good match at all. The best tag team match on the card goes to the Young Bucks vs. Jurassic Express in my humble opinion. FTR against Omega and Page felt like a styles clash at multiple points in this match. The lack of a pumped, enthusiastic crowd for this match hurt it even more, along with the fact that Omega was half-assing the selling of the limbs that FTR were tirelessly working over. Working over Omega proved to be for nothing when Page was the one who got pinned when it was all said and done. Did I miss something or did they do the exact same finish twice before covering Hangman for the win?

After the match was won by FTR, Omega immediately quit selling his leg (even though he was barely doing it during this match, if at all) and went outside of the ring to get a table. He TEASED using it on Page to complete the heel turn that everyone is anticipating at this moment and thought better of it before storming into the back with the Young Bucks. They seem to be teasing a heel turn for the Elite collectively instead of solely with Omega. I'm fine with that if they are going forward with Hangman being a lone wolf babyface.

Even though I wasn't happy with the match as a whole, I'm glad that the tag team title are with FTR, who can confidently call themselves the first tag team to hold the NXT, RAW, SmackDown, AND AEW Tag Team Championships.

Mimosa Mayhem match

Orange Cassidy def. Chris Jericho by knocking him into the vat of mimosa

Match could be won by pinfall, submission, or fully submerging an opponent into a vat of mimosa

This was just there at this point as I kept looking at the clock in my room. It was past 11PM after this point. I get that AEW doesn't have too many PPVs over the year, but by this point we were clocking in roughly 6-7 hours of AEW content in one night if you watched the Countdown to All Out on TNT, the Buy-In Pre-show, and the Red Carpet specials on YouTube - along with this PPV in its entirety to this point. I was pretty much waiting for the bump into the mimosa and Jericho didn't disappoint in that regard at all.

#AEWAllOut
Chris Jericho has been Mimosa'd. pic.twitter.com/NZHbMFSSM6

— GIFSkull IV - Banned Soon Due to False DMCA Spam (@GifSkullIV) September 6, 2020

I legitimately laughed at how Jericho flew back into the mimosa like it was Charlie Murphy kicking Rick James into the mirror. #AEWAllOut pic.twitter.com/yEv4X9MXUS

— Let's Talk Wrestling (@LetsTalkWrestle) September 6, 2020

Singles match for the AEW World Championship

Jon Moxley (c) defeated MJF (with Wardlow)

Moxley was banned from using the Paradigm Shift finishing move

Time and time again and I honestly don't see what's the fascination with Moxley as a world champion. I didn't see it in WWE and I REALLY don't see it here in AEW. Out of the three guys in The Shield - Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, and Dean Ambrose (now Jon Moxley), Moxley was the easily the short end of the stick. I think that it's ironic that while he went off on podcasts and interviews after leaving WWE that he was frustrated with being the "wacky Dean" character on WWE programming, he still gives off that vibe here when he's trying to splice in elements of Stone Cold Steve Austin too. I have tried to give him the benefit of a doubt but there hasn't been a single Moxley match in this company that I have seen that I have been blown away by in any capacity. Ambrose bored me to tears in WWE and Moxley is repeating that trend in AEW. I'm really starting to see why Vince McMahon (much like Brodie Lee) didn't have faith in him as a top draw. This match had a lot of ass-backwards psychology going on, with MJF working majority of the match from underneath as the heel while Moxley was in control as the babyface no less. It didn't make much sense to me, especially when they kept dragging this match along and it was minutes to midnight at this point of the show. Watching this match live, I was just beyond fed up and ready for this show to end. 

A Paradigm Shift ends the match regardless of the fact it was banned.

Like I mentioned earlier, the end result wasn't a surprise in the least when you already knew that Lance Archer won the Casino Battle Royal for the future title shot against Moxley. This company isn't stupid. They want to do the Wrestle Kingdom rematch from this year that New Japan can't capitalize on. I will give AEW props for the finish here as that was a nice touch as it gives MJF an out and something to complain about like all shit-eating heels do. 

---

Afterthoughts:

Dear AEW,

PLEASE refrain from anymore stupid, dangerous, and completely unnecessary bumps tonight. I don't want to see any of these hard working men and women to die not tonight or any night. Work smart not stupid. #AEWAllOut

— Let's Talk Wrestling (@LetsTalkWrestle) September 6, 2020

Overall, I thought this was AEW's most embarrassing PPV outing to date. I was downright disgusted with this company by the time it was over. This show, from top to bottom, should be a wake-up call for every wrestling fan thinking that this company does no wrong when that is the furthest thing away from being true.

I'm not the only one saying this either. You got a wealth of people calling out AEW for this bullshit tonight with a few noteworthy tweets below.

Much like several podcasters said or wrote. Last night was a wake up call for everyone who sees a can do no wrong promotion in aew. Nothing is perfect or always 5 stars. Least that being pro wrestling. Tony Kahn and his brain trust crew. Should be taken to task. Nothing to debate

— Kevin Castle- Kev On Demand (@KevZCastle) September 6, 2020

Wait so Matt Hardy was knocked out for a full minute, Aubry tried to end the match, a doctor said he's good & they kept going? They didn't even give him a Z Pack?

— PowerBomb Jutsu (@PowerbombJutsu) September 6, 2020

AEW operates with the same reckless abandonment that WWE has. It's just what happens when you can throw a billion dollars at a company. But nobody takes issue with it because it's the smart fan's show. But it's the same exact shit.

— PowerBomb Jutsu (@PowerbombJutsu) September 6, 2020

WWE has a COVID outbreak yall go crazy. AEW let's Jerich wrestle after playing a concert stating "he passed the test" but it can take 2 weeks for symptoms to show & there have been 500 cases from that event, plus they've invited fans back. But it's all good.

— PowerBomb Jutsu (@PowerbombJutsu) September 6, 2020

Remember how you were all mad at WWE for letting Kari continue that tag match after being knocked out? Same shit here.

— PowerBomb Jutsu (@PowerbombJutsu) September 6, 2020

WWE has made gimmick matches the center of their PPVs. So people continuously have to up the ante and it leads to injuries. AEW is doing the same exact shit. Matt Hardy should have never been allowed to do something like that at his age in the first place.

— PowerBomb Jutsu (@PowerbombJutsu) September 6, 2020

Without a shadow of a doubt, All Out (2020) will live on as a complete embarrassment for this company. The honeymoon period is CLEARLY over and we need to stop giving AEW a free pass when it comes to constructive criticism and grade them in the same capacity as IMPACT, WWE, or any other promotion under the sun. A lot of stupid shit went down on this show and AEW along with Tony Khan should be called out for it, no matter how much you may love the talent that works here or want to see an alternative "topple" WWE. If Khan expects AEW to survive long term and no one doesn't end up killing themselves on his programming then he needs to really start telling these guys and girls NO when it comes to some of this reckless abandon that I see on these shows on a regular basis. It's not cool - it's goddamn stupid and that's exactly what we need to be calling it as.


As of this posting (9/11/20), the All Out fallout edition of Dynamite has come and gone. Matt Hardy appeared on Dynamite, accompanied by his wife, Reby Hardy with their infant child in the crowd, and thanked all of the fans for their support in that dire situation on Saturday night. He apologized for scaring everyone, his family included, for putting them through that traumatic experience, but I felt that Tony Khan should have made a rare appearance on-camera and apologized not only to Matt Hardy, but Reby Hardy as well, for allowing that match to continue when Hardy wasn't in any shape to continue it just to do the finish spot. Instead, Khan continues to brush this whole situation under the rug and sweep all blame away from himself. If you go onto AEW's Twitter page, you will notice that they have removed all traces of Matt Hardy's infamous fall off their account. Between how this company has mishandled that situation and the stupidity that allowed on this program on a regular basis, I can't see Tony Khan as nothing more than a money mark. I'm sorry, but he hasn't shown me anything to make me think any different.

During an interview on Dynamite, Kenny Omega clarifies that everything between himself and Hangman Page is fine, but the more he talks it seems to be that he's teasing a return of "The Cleaner" from his days in New Japan while the Young Bucks seem to be going "all in" on this heel turn for The Elite. Omega needs to do something as compared to a year ago, his stock value in wrestling has drastically gone down. He's nowhere as the high profile free agent that was in high demand this time last year. Being a giving performer in this business is one thing, but you don't be so giving that it's detrimental to your own career. Omega and the Bucks should have taken the reigns at the start, much like Chris Jericho and THEN put over guys to bring them up to their level. One year later, it seems like it's going to be all for nothing when only the AEW die-hards still think those guys are in high demand anymore.

Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford revealed that Miro - the former "Bulgarian Brute" Rusev in WWE - is their "best man" for their pending wedding. Miro came out to the same song and dance as every other ex-WWE guy coming into this company or IMPACT Wrestling for the last decade and a half, saying how they were misused and denied a brass ring. I'm sorry but I'm not feeling sorry for him with that shit. Same goes for a lot of ex-WWE talent. No one held a gun to your head and MADE you sign those renewal contract deals for all of those years you stayed there. Don't be mad now that the checks stopped coming in. That was your own stupidity. The best way to get back at WWE is to rub your newfound success in their faces, not constantly bring up the past looking for some sort of a pity party. Rusev, now Miro, had a lot of high-profile matches for WWE. I can't say that they completely misused the guy when his ultimate downfall was him and his own wife, Lana, went to TMZ and told him about their real life wedding when they were in divorce storyline on camera. I don't blame WWE for burying him for killing kayfabe on what was a great gimmick and pairing at the time. In regard to Miro in AEW, I don't have any high expectations for this lackluster debut. All I'm going to say is that it's "nut up or shut up" time.

FTR held a "celebration" of sorts on Dynamite to celebrate their win with the entire tag team division, but I was more surprised that they didn't get their faces dunked into that sheet cake that they brought out. Instead, all of the tag teams at ringside were able to enjoy it at their leisure. That definitely has to be a first for modern wrestling that a cake was shown on television and not ruined in any capacity. On a positive note, I'm anxious to see who FTR works with next in hopes of elevating this tag team division because that mess with Hangman and Omega didn't click at all.

NWA's Women's Champion Thunder Rosa walked away from All Out in a losing effort, but I think between her match on Dynamite and on All Out, she opened a LOT of people's eyes who weren't aware of nor familiar with her talents prior to her appearances for this company. I'm glad to see that she's getting a chance to defend her title next week on Dynamite with one of her fellow Lucha Underground alumni, Ivelisse. Meanwhile, Shida seems to be pegged to resume her feud with Nyla Rose yet again. AEW signed Tay Conti from the Deadly Draw Women's Tag Team Tournament this week. She lost to Rose on Dynamite, but I hope we see more of her. She's still pretty green, despite being trained at the WWE Performance Center, but she shows a lot of promise, especially more than a lot of the other women in that division.

As for that Dustin Rhodes vs. Brodie Lee match for the TNT Championship, I walked out of the living room and did the dishes in the kitchen over watching the bulk of that match. Naturally (no pun intended), Dustin lost. Who didn't see that coming? They aren't going to take that title off of Brodie Lee after that massive injury angle they did with Cody to write him off television. He's probably isn't going to lose that title until Cody is ready to come back. I doubt we have to wait long as they were airing vignettes for him during All Out and he's being advertised for appearing on another television show, so we know he's not hurt. It's not like this company keeps up much kayfabe to begin with.