Jungle Boy Jack Perry opens the show coming out to loud cheers. Sammy Guevara makes the interruption. Looks like it’s a 4 pillars promo session to start the show. Sure enough Darby Allin interrupts Guevara. Darby starts to talk no MJF just yet. Darby says Sammy is the least qualified of the pillars to be champion. He is acting heelish towards Jungle Boy saying Jack is part of the California clique which I assume to be a Young Bucks reference. Jack says Darby is only in AEW because he failed at skating. They were losing the crowd a bit until Jungle Boy called Sammy a “scumbag piece of shit”. Sammy says Jungle Boy was handpicked like MJF. It sounds like they are having audio issues.
MJF joins the fray immediately getting nuclear heat on himself by calling out the Pittsburgh crowd saying they actually believe Britt Baker has talent. That was good. MJF announces a 4 Pillars tournament. The first match is in the main event tonight. MJF draws out of a hat to give Darby Allin a bye making it Jungle Boy vs Sammy Guevara in the main event! This segment dragged on at times. It ended up being a big deal announcing a tournament and main event for the show. I don’t think AEW has ever done a segment like this where they use the opening promo to set up the main event for later in the night. We’ve seen it for years in WWE. I like the fact that they did something different. The segment really worked to build the 4 pillars rivalry while giving us a fresh match in the main event. I expected a fatal 4-way 4 pillars match at Double or Nothing. I’m excited to see where this is going.
Britt Baker and (C) Jaime Hayter vs Toni Storm and Ruby Soho – There are loud chants and terrible towels being waived for Britt. Her hometown crowd loves her. There are definitely audio issues. The faces start out strong, the crowd is hot for the women. This is a good placement for the women’s match. That's good to see! Let’s go Jaime chants. The Outcasts gain the advantage and taunt Baker’s family going into the break. DMD gets the hot tag after the break. Good double team on Storm including Hayter hitting her finisher Hayterade a sliding clothesline. Ruby breaks up the pin attempt. Good near fall there. The heels get the advantage. Britt kicks out of a belt shot and Storm Zero. There were 2 other good near falls for Britt and Ruby before Baker made Soho tap out with the Lockjaw. Grade 3 ½ *
Excellent match from the women tonight! You love to see them put in a good spot and deliver. There have been rumors that Baker has an injured back. It looked like she was moving carefully. It didn’t hurt the match. The feud between the Outcasts and Originals hasn’t been going that well. This may have been the high point of the storyline. One minor gripe is Hayter looked venerable again. She is starting to feel like an afterthought in the program. That isn’t a great way to book your champion. None the less, I really enjoyed the match. Give credit to the performers and AEW for getting it right tonight!
Backstage, Wardlow talks about how he knows he needs backup and needing a horseman. In comes Arn Anderson! What!?!? Looks like Arn is in Wardlow’s corner to even the odds. Arn says something about Tully Blanchard being good at checkers but they’re playing chess now. I don’t think Wardlow is where he should be on the card and I’m not sure Arn helps his presentation. I am certainly willing to give it a chance.
The Elite are out next to a solid ovation. Kenny wants to plunge a screwdriver into Moxley’s face. Omega calls out the BCC. Danielson shows up on the screen setting up an attack from behind and the brawl is on! It was a wild back in forth scrap with The Bucks hitting a couple of nice-looking dives. Blackpool gets the advantage. Danielson comes out calling the Elite amateurs. Callis comes out with a chair then cowardly retreated. That was funny. Danielson has a screwdriver. It looked like Kenny was going to bleed tonight until Callis returned with Takeshita! Takeshita cleans house on the BCC to make the save. Excellent segment and storyline development. This is a great spot for Takeshita. Callis is very awkward in the face role. I definitely see a heel turn in his future. He would fit nicely with the Blackpool Combat Club. Will he take Takeshita with him? BCC needs another member if they are doing Blood and Guts. I’m intrigued. The storyline development has been great tonight. Awesome show so far!
(C) Powerhouse Will Hobbs vs Wardlow – Loud Wardlow chants to open the match. Back and forth with big shots early. Warlow knocks Hobbs over the barricade, they brawl in the crowd. Back from the break Hobbs is in control. Wardlow comes back, hits a nice senton. Back and forth with shots again. The crowd is hot and strongly behind Wardlow who is also in front of his home crowd. Wardlow kicks out from a huge Spinebuster from Powerhouse and a distraction and Diamond Cutter from QT. That led to a fun spot with QT trying to retreat from Arn only to be rolled into the ring by the Lucha Brothers into a DDT from Anderson. Wardlow wins the TNT title back after a Powerbomb Symphony. Grade 3 *
Hard hitting match. Good Hoss Fight. This should end the feud. It was a great showing for Wardlow and Arn. Could this be leading to a 4 Horsemen stable led by Wardlow? That seems so random, but I wouldn't hate it. I always thought Hangman should lead the 4 Horsemen if they were going to do it. Wardlow had his momentum back tonight. Let’s see if that carries over outside his hometown. It obviously didn’t go as well for Hobbs. I hope they keep the QTV gimmick going. It could lead to good things for Hobbs down the line. It might be best if they kept it on Rampage where it’s been recently. Hobbs could work some squash matches on Rampage to build him back up until they find another good program for him.
Immediately after the match Christian and Luchasaurus show up to steal the spotlight from Wardlow. It looks like they are the next challengers for Wardlow’s TNT title. That’s fine with me. Speaking of stealing the spotlight, MJF shows up to take Sammy Guevara’s backstage interview time. MJF offers to work with Sammy and hands him a blank check. MJF guarantees Sammy a spot in the main event of Double or Nothing. Guevara agrees to work with him and gives him a sarcastic hug. This makes me think a fatal 4 way at Double or Nothing is still the plan. I’m less excited about the main event now. I expect MJF to screw over Jungle Boy and think the 4 Pillars tournament is bunk after this. That said, it could be an interesting way to continue the build toward the 4 pillars fatal 4 way.
Jay White vs Kommander – The match starts with a surprising handshake and too sweet chants. This is vintage Jay White from New Japan which is wonderful to see. Great action early. Kommander did his amazing rope walking moves. Jay hit some hard chops and a clothesline that flipped Kommander. Shawn Spears is in the front row distracting White. Kommander hit 3 huge top rope moves for a good near fall. Spears gave it a 10. Nice touch. Jay gets the advantage and hits Bladerunner for the win. Grade 3 ½ *
Solid debut match in AEW for Jay White! He looked great in the ring and had no problem keeping up with Kommander’s fast pace. Jay is normally a methodical worker. That may change in AEW. Juice Robinson pulls Spears out of the crowd. Bullet Club Gold with the double team until Ricky Starks comes out for the save. Starks hit an amazing Spear on Juice where he flew at least 5 feet before making contact. The crowd was on fire for Starks! This was another great segment the crowd was hot for!
They showed a clip from before the show with Mark Briscoe getting beat up by a bunch of jobbers. I saw Tony Neese in there. It was a quick clip; I couldn’t tell who everyone was. That led to FTR ending their backstage interview to try to help Mark in the trainer's office which conveniently is right around the corner. Jay Lethal, Jeff Jarrett and crew are already there attending to Briscoe. Mark makes them agree to take out the jobbers together. I shouldn't call them jobbers anymore it’s Varsity Athletes, Slim J among others. It looks like Jarrett and Lethal are being positioned as opponents for FTR at D.O.N. I don’t hate it, but the tag division isn’t where it once was. Hopefully FTR can get it back to where it should be. This was a cheesy segment, but it was fine to set up a match for Rampage.
Chris Jericho is out first for his face to face with Adam Cole “BAY BAY”. Great pop for Cole as usual. Really good crowd tonight. Cole says Jericho was a big inspiration to him including his catch phrase. Cole respects Jericho, they shook hands. The second handshake on the show. Is this Ring of Honor? Jericho has no respect for Cole despite the handshake. Cole calls Jericho a jagoff which starts a chant from the crowd. Jericho has a hilarious shocked face. I’m not sure what a jagoff is but I know what the implication is. Good stuff there. Cole calls Jericho insecure, fickle, a stupid idiot. That drew a “stupid idiot” chant.
Cole gets in Jericho’s face. Jericho shoves Cole, they brawl. Daniel Garcia comes out with the numbers game for JAS, then Britt Baker comes out to save Cole and slaps Jericho! The crowd is going nuts. The Outcasts show up behind Baker and the attack is on. Garcia has Adam Cole handcuffed to the bottom rope. Jericho has a kendo stick and threatens Cole with it. Cole screams for Jericho to hit him with it. Instead, Jericho hands it to Saraya and the beatdown of Britt Baker in her hometown in front of her helpless boyfriend is on. Britt screams out “Austin” which is Adam Cole’s real name while Cole can do nothing but watch in agony. WOW! Amazing drama here. I love it as an angle to get heat on the bad guys. You could tell Saraya was taking it easy on Britt likely due to the rumored back injury. It didn’t hurt the segment at all. Props to everyone involved in this angle. This was executed perfectly.
Matt and Jeff Hardy, Hook and Isiah Kassidy are shown talking about The Firm Deletion. Matt Hardy’s program with the Firm hasn’t been one of the strongest on the show. I am looking forward to the Deletion match. That will be a brilllliant ending to the rivalry. Max Caster out next doing his rap. It was really good this week. He rapped about Bud Light, Draymond Green and something that was bleeped out. Looks like it might have been “mommy’s titties”. It was a funny rap with Bud Light and Draymond Green being very relevant in the news cycle.
Acclaimed vs Matt Menard and Angelo Parker – JAS jumps the Acclaimed to start the match. The crowd loves the Acclaimed. They pop big for the scissoring spot. Billy gets caught on camera saying “suck my dick” to Hager. Woops. That was funny. Bowens kicks out after a loaded comb punch from Cool Hand Ang. Daddy Ass grabs the comb and breaks it to loud “you fucked up chants”. That was good. The Acclaimed easily won the match after that with Caster hitting the Mic Drop for the win. Grade 2 ¼ *
It was what it should have been with Acclaimed going over strong. Not every match can be a 4 to 5 star classic. The Acclaimed have clearly lost their momentum and I hope this feud is behind them now. Maybe they will gain some momentum from the win and start in on a bigger program. I think it’s too soon for them to go against FTR so it’s hard seeing good spot for the Acclaimed at Double or Nothing. Perhaps, they can go after the trios titles with Daddy Ass at some point. Main event time! This has been an excellent show. I’m excited for a first-time match even if we aren’t likely to get a clean finish.
Jungle Boy vs Sammy Guevara – Fast paced action early on. Guevara hits a standing Spanish Fly. Darby is shown in the rafters looking on. Good action on the apron before Sammy hits another Spanish Fly this time to the floor. MJF is watching on a screen backstage. I like how the pillars have been keeping an eye on each other. It’s a small thing but a good touch. Awesome top rope Destroyer from Jack. The crowd has died down a bit. It’s understandable, they are probably getting tired as they’ve been loud all night. Top rope Cutter and an Implant DDT from Guevara. That DDT looked brutal. Jungle Boy appears to be OK. That was a dangerous spot. They hit each other with back-to-back Poison Rana’s. Jungle Boy hits his sliding forearm to the back of the head. Both men are down. The crowd is back into it with “this is awesome” chants.
There was dueling “let's go Sammy”, “Sammy Sucks” chants. I wasn’t expecting the let's go Sammy chants. Sammy hits a huge drop kick that knocks Jungle into the timekeeper's table. The table was probably supposed to break. It still looked like it hurt. The spot was fine. Bryce Rensburg starts to count Jack out. Jack is up at 8 when Guevara grabs Rensburg so MJF can nail Jungle Boy with the Dynamite Diamond Ring knocking him out. Sammy lets go and Bryce finished the 10 count. I don’t normally complain about the refereeing in AEW. This wasn’t a particularly good effort. You’d think Rensburg might know something was up after Guevara grabbed him and turned him away from Jack. Anyway, it was still a very good match. The screwy ending hurt it for sure, but I definitely understand it as an angle as I explained earlier. Grade 3 ½ *
Grade 8.3 - I really enjoyed this show. Everything seemed to be done for a reason and building to something bigger. There were 3 really good matches I gave 3 ½ star ratings. This show might not have had an incredible match like we often see on Dynamite. There was really nothing I could complain about! The two main rivalries BCC/Elite and 4 Pillars had excellent build. I like where both storylines are headed. Takeshita seemingly joining the Elite is a great spot for him! I still think we’re getting a fatal 4 way with the 4 pillars at D.O.N. The ending of tonight's main event would certainly lead towards that. You don’t have to announce the match right away. It’s an intriguing story to see how Jungle Boy might get back into the picture. It wasn’t a great way to end the main event match, but it is a clever angle. I think it’s possible MJF will help Guevara beat Darby Allin next week. That could lead to a tag match between Jungle Boy/Darby Allin and MJF/Sammy Guevara where the faces win and get into the title match.
Wardlow looked impressive and the crowd was hot for him. I’m not sure regaining the TNT title and adding Arn Anderson to his presentation is where he should be on the card. However, beating Hobbs in convincing fashion and QT getting punked by Lucha Brothers and Arn was definitely the right way to end the feud. I think Christian and Luchasaurus are decent opponents for Wardlow. Hopefully they have a good run lined up to get him back to the top. I was impressed by the development in the Women’s Division tonight. They got a match in a good spot on the card and delivered in that spot. They also got another powerful segment with Britt being taken out in her hometown later in the show. It has to be mentioned that Hayter didn’t look good again, but I give credit to AEW for booking the women well tonight. I would love to see more of that!
Jay White looks right at home in AEW and I’m excited to see where they are going with Bullet Club Gold and his rivalry with Starks and now Spears. We’ll probably get a tag match as early as next week. The best segments of the night were the wild BCC/Elite brawl and the emotional segment with Jericho and Saraya orchestrating a beatdown of Britt Baker with Adam Cole handcuffed and helpless. The unlikely alliance of JAS and Outcasts made this possibly the best night the Outcasts have had in AEW despite losing their match. Overall, this was an excellent episode of Dynamite. Most of the matches had an obvious outcome but the action was good. What I was really impressed with was the storyline development. It seemed like everything mattered tonight. That isn’t always the case with Dynamite. It bodes well headed into Double or Nothing. Let’s hope they can keep up the momentum.
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