Written by All Elite Gino (Gino Lewis)
Location Moody Center ATX, Austin Texas
Two weeks ago, I wrote this in my closing statement, “They have set the table brilliantly in the last month or so. Let’s hope they knock it out of the park bringing it home to DON!”. AEW certainly did that last week with an episode I rated an 8.5. I would say that was the first Dynamite on the road to Double or Nothing. Let’s hope we get an equally great or better episode this week from Austin Texas. There are 2 really big matches I’m looking forward to; Switchblade Jay White vs Ricky Starks and Chris Jericho vs Roderick Strong in falls count anywhere. Adam Cole “BAY BAY” and the Jericho Appreciation Society are barred from the match. In wrestling we know that means they will likely all get involved. Tonight, I’ll be enjoying a few of my favorite beers, Stella Artois while watching the show. Dynamite and a few beers. Sounds good to me. Let’s get to the action!
TNT Champion Wardlow is out for an in-ring segment to open the show. It’s a rare show opening promo from AEW. Arn Anderson is not with Wardlow. Loud “Ward-low” chants. Wardlow tells Christian to put on his tiny jacket and come spit in my face. Christian and Luchasaurus come out to the ring. Christian is about to hock a loogie in Warlow’s face. Warlow grabs him by the neck then starts fighting with Luchasaurus. It looked like Wardlow might get the better of both until Christian hit a low blow. Luchasaurus brought a ladder into the ring and Choke Slammed Wardlow on it. Nice move from the dinosaur. Christian hit the Killswitch onto the broken ladder. Christian wins this round. This was a good way to get even more heat on Christian and make him seem like a viable opponent for Wardlow. If they make it a ladder match, I think it’s possible Christian wins. Interesting choice for an opening segment. I think it worked.
There was a short recap of Don Callis turning on Kenny Omega with the Screwdriver Job. It might have been smart to open the show with Callis or have him come on at this point. The crowd is really hot so they didn’t need that heat to open the show. Teasing it for later is a good move.
Orange Cassidy/Darby Allin def Big Bill/Lee Moriarty – This seems like a like an incredibly random match. Darby and Orange don’t seem like a natural pairing. It’s a rematch of a House Rules match. That’s pretty cool. This is definitely the type of matchup you see at a house show. The crowd is hot for Cassidy chanting “freshly squeezed”. Allin tagged in to “Darby” chants. Darby and Orange hit tandem dives. Good spot. Tony Schiavone admits Allin and Cassidy are a random pairing lol. They did the classic baby face team making a tag the ref didn’t see spot. I like that. You don’t see a lot of good referee work in AEW. The crowd chanted “ref you suck” showing the fans do notice the refs. Darby Allin tagged in and was on fire offensively dominating both his opponents until the numbers game finally took over with a giant Bossman Slam from Bill. That looked great.
Moriarty and Cassidy are legally tagged into the ring. Lee hit a spinning slam into a cross face. The crowd is really hot for this match. Darby hit a Code Red on Bill after he blocked a Stun Gun Millionaire attempt. Cassidy nails an Orange Punch on Bill as Darby hits the Coffin drop on Lee. Instead of making the cover Darby pinned Moriarty with a side headlock. That is a nod to a match in the past between MJF and Darby. Nice touch there. It was a good match. The normal solid action-packed opener. They really did a good job of following tag rules including doing a referee spot. It’s interesting it turned out that way with 2 teams that don’t regularly tag. I can see why they did a rematch on TV. Grade 3 ½ *
The Young Bucks are shown entering the arena. Blackpool Combat Club without Danielson shows up behind them. They don’t waste no time getting to the brawl. Claudio press slammed Nick Jackson onto a truck. The camera had a clear shot of Claudio’s hand in an awkward spot. I’ll leave it at that. Yuta slammed Matt Jackson’s injured arm against the truck. Moxley taunts the camera as BCC leaves the Bucks laid out.
Renee Paquette is in the trainer's room getting an update on Wardlow. Arn Anderson shows up. Wardlow asked him to stay in the locker room. Arn asks now that you’ve seen what they’re capable of, what are you going to do? Wardlow challenges Christian to a Ladder Match at Double or Nothing as I mentioned earlier. I think it’s smart to book a ladder match. It makes it more believable that Christian could win. It will likely be a handicap type match with Luchasaurus involved. I’m sure Arn will be involved as well. It wouldn’t be ideal for Wardlow to lose the title so soon. I do think putting it on Christian would be a good idea. He’s getting the loudest reactions in the company right now. The crowd popped when Wardlow announced the match. That’s a good sign that the crowd wants to see it.
Renee is backstage with Orange Cassidy after a commercial. It seemed like Orange called out Kyle Fletcher for a match at Double or Nothing. Maybe he challenged the whole roster? He said something about Tony Khan’s office. I thought that would be a Dynamite or even a Rampage match. It makes sense since Fletcher attacked Cassidy last week. I’ve seen Fletcher wrestle and he’s good. I wouldn’t really like him getting a spot on the DON card ahead of so many great wrestlers on the AEW roster.
Sammy Guevara def Exodus Prime SQUASH – Man, I haven’t seen Exodus Prime wrestle but that is a world class name for a wrestler! This match might not go very long. Knee strike into a GTH and a win for Sammy. I thought it might go a little longer than that. After the match Sammy got a mic. He’s in his hometown and is getting a slight babyface pop. We saw him wrestle at something called Wrestle Circus in Austin on All Access. Guevara cuts a short babyface promo saying he’s going to become Champion at DON. There was a video package hyping up the 4 Pillars match and then we go to Schiavone who is in the ring. Tony introduces the challengers for the tag team titles Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal. The way he said Sonjay Dutt’s last name was funny.
FTR runs out and shoves Satnam Singh off the stage though 2 sets of 2 tables. WOW! That was an impressive bump for such a huge guy. They brawl with Jarrett and Lethal. Dash is ripping off Jay Lethal’s clothes in what is turning out to be a wild brawl. Lethal was sent over the timekeeper's table and Jarrett over the stairs as the crowd chants for FTR. FTR is about to hit the Big Rig. There is a woman who enters the ring. It’s Karen Jarrett! WTF!! There is a lot going here. Now the heels have the advantage and Singh is coming back to the ring. It’s a similar spot as when The Giant (Paul Wight)/(Big Show) got thrown off the building during the ridiculous monster truck match at Halloween Havoc in 1995. Wrestling was different back then. The announcers literally sold it like The Giant was dead, then he came down to the ring a few minutes later. The Giant Singh hits a double chokeslam on FTR. Dutt is in the ring with guitars for Jarrett and Lethal. They smash the guitars over the heads of FTR. Jarrett’s shot on Dax looked devastating. This was one of the best nights for Satnam in AEW. It continued what has a been a good build to the tag title match. Another good segment. I think we’re getting heavy on heel beatdowns though.
Paquette is backstage with Darby Allin. She asks Darby if the side headlock takeover win was a message to MJF. Darby says it was. Sammy Guevara shows up. He’s in full babyface mode tonight. He says whether it’s he, Darby or Jungle Boy one of them has to beat that prick MJF. They fist bump in a small show of respect.
Toni Storm/Ruby Soho def Britt Baker/Hikaru Shida – Jamie Hayter and Saraya were supposed to be in this match. The announcers say Hayter is hurt from a beatdown by the Outcasts 2 weeks ago. Something must have changed since the match was announced. I have to say this isn’t a great development for this match or whatever they have planned for DON. Storm hit a hip attack on Britt to the outside with the ref distracted and Saraya distracting Baker as we go to commercial. The heels are still in control when we get back. The crowd is chanting “DMD”. It’s been a loud crowd tonight. Lots of energy. Shida and Soho tag in. Shida gets the advantage taking out all 3 Outcasts, then hitting a dive on to the outside on all 3 of them as the crowd chants for her. Shida hit a Falcon Arrow on Ruby for near fall. Her offense looks great tonight. Britt hit a cool looking DDT/Neckbreaker type move on both her opponents for another near fall on Soho.
The action has been really good from the women tonight. Toni no sold a stomp from Baker then sprayed paint into Britt’s face while Saraya distracted the ref again. Toni hit Storm Zero on Baker for the win. Soon as I said the action was good, they went to a really bad-looking finish. I’m not sure if the idea is that Storm blocked the Stomp. If not, that big move from Baker was not protected at all. This was good for an AEW women’s match. They got a decent amount of time. It had a story and a hot crowd. I really didn’t like the ending. It could have been half a star higher if they figured out a better finish. I don’t think you should book a no sell of a top star like Baker as the finish of a match. Grade 3 *
Renee is backstage with Cassidy again. She says 20 people went into Tony Khan’s office after Cassidy said he’d fight them all in his last interview. Orange says that’s fine he’ll fight them all in a Black Jack Battle Royale at Double or Nothing since they will be in Las Vegas. I don’t mind it. It’s a good way to get a lot of wrestlers on the card. It’s basically the same as the Casino Royale but now it means something with the International Title on the line. I’m starting my second beer as we get ready for Falls Count Anywhere. Stella Artois is a Belgium Pilsner. It’s very clean and smooth. I really don’t get much of an after taste from it. It’s my favorite tasting beer. The alcohol content is a little higher. I got a nice buzz off of 3 or 4 and don’t get too bad of a hangover if I overserve myself. This has been a good but not great Dynamite. I feel like I’m being a little over critical. I have high expectations with us being 2 weeks away from one of the biggest PPV’s of the year. The show should pick up for here considering what we have left on the card.
Here we go with Tony Khan’s big announcement. It was the expected announcement of the new Saturday show Collision. There was something really interesting. AEW is using the old Nitro logo. I think that’s really smart. They have the locations set for 5 of the first 6 shows. The only one not announced is the first episode. That will be revealed next week. It had been widely rumored that show would be held in Chicago and even be branded “Second Coming” with the return of CM Punk. Almost everything we’ve heard had said Punk would be the face of Collision and possibly a brand split. Today there were reports of Punk stirring the pot and going off the deep end again on social media. It looks like there is backstage heat on Punk again which could have led to a change in plans. Punk was left off the promotional poster for the show. I think there is a good chance Punk was supposed to be a part of this announcement. It would be a mistake to have the debut of your new show in Chicago without Punk. Of course, this could all be a work. It would be brilliant if it was. I doubt that is the case based on everything that has been reported since Brawl Out. This seems on brand for Punk. It will be interesting to see what the dirt sheets have to say over the next week and where AEW goes from here.
Falls Count Anywhere: Roderick Strong def Chris Jericho – The crowd sang “Judas” like always. It is a cool song. Roddy is on fire to start the match and almost takes out referee Aubrey Edwards. There have been lot of chops so far. Jericho’s chest is beat red as Taz says it looks like raw chop meat whatever that is. I guess it’s salmon. It kinda does actually lol. The action has been mostly in the ring as we go to break. Strong has the advantage and gets a near fall in the aisle of the crowd when we get back. That’s more like it. Jericho Suplexes Strong through a table in the backstage area. That draws “Holy Shit” and “A-E-Dub" chants. Strong hit a meh looking backbreaker on a souvenir stand. Jericho hit Strong twice with a stanchion. The combatants exchange chops on a ledge in the stairwell area which leads to Jericho getting a near fall. That was really unique. I don’t think I’ve seen 2 wrestlers fight there. The announcers mentioned that.
Strong threw some plastic forks at Jericho which actually works and then takes him over to the concession stand and smacks him in the face with some soft serve. He follows that up by eating some himself lol. Jericho has ice cream all over his face. Excellent spot. Jericho wiped his face with trash then hit Strong with the trash can. The action has been tremendous since the break. This feels like a PPV match as they spill outside the building. Keep in mind Adam Cole is only banned from the arena. He shows up behind Jericho as Chris is taunting Strong who is pretending to beg for mercy. Cole proceeds to beat up Jericho tossing him into a raised planter and hitting the Boom knee strike, followed up by Strong with the jumping knee for the 1-2-3 in the planter. Well done, I don’t think I’ve seen someone pinned in a planter before. Cole and Strong celebrate as Jericho lays in the dirt like a pile of manure. I really enjoyed this. It was exactly what it needed to be. Giving Strong a win in his first match over a top star and furthering the story between Cole and Jericho. Jericho is one of the only wrestlers in the world who can lose a match any time to anyone and not lose momentum.
Grade 4 ¼ *
Jungle Boy Jack Perry def Rush – Taz and Schiavone have a funny exchange where Taz tells awkwardly tells Tony he loves him. Rush is aggressive early slamming Jack against the barricades outside. My wife likes Rush. Let’s just say he and I don’t resemble each other at all. Not sure how I should feel about that. Jungle Boy is bleeding on the outside. We go to commercial. It looks like Rush grabbed Jack’s nuts when we got back. The announcers acknowledged it so I think that’s what happened. Jungle Boy has the Snare Trap locked in after some good back and forth action. Trey exchange strikes on the apron as Rush licks Jacks blood off his hand. Rush throws Jack hard to the floor with a nasty looking over head suplex. It looks like Jack landed head first. That was a dangerous spot. Jack seems to be OK. There was a small holy shit chant. The crowd has seemed to quiet down a bit. It looked like Rush tried to cheat and was stopped by the ref leading to a roll up of doom win for Jungle Boy. Weak finish to a good match. Grade 3 ¼ *
It was a good match but it was more about the post-match angle. Preston Vance came into the ring and beatdown Jungle Boy with Rush. Darby Allin came out for the save. The numbers game came through for the heels. The crowd was chanting “Sammy” but it wasn’t that loud. Sammy did come out to make the second baby face save. The 3 challengers in the Main Event at DON got the advantage to end the segment. This was good. I don’t think the crowd reacted to it like it was a PPV main event segment. The build up to the 4 Pillars match has been excellent. I’m excited for the match even though the crowd hasn’t always been hot for this feud.
Renee is backstage with MJF. Finally, MJF is on the show. He slaps the microphone out of Paquette’s hand and walks off. I don’t think this was a good way to use your Champion. I also think the 4 Pillars feud is fueled by the fan's hatred for MJF. The small reaction from the crowd for the other 3 guys showed that. This show could have used a heavier presence from him. Renee is now backstage with Toni Storm. Toni cuts an intense promo challenging Jamie Hayter for the women’s title at DON. I have to say, I’m not really excited for that. It’s a rematch I feel like we’ve seen a half dozen times and seems like an obvious result. I think they’ve been building the women’s division pretty well. A challenge based on the champ not being able to show up because of a storyline injury is not a great story and not fitting to end to what had been presented as a big rivalry between the homegrowns and Outcasts. I’m now on beer #3 headed into the main event. Stella doesn’t faze me that much but I must admit I feel the buzz in my writing. It would be really funny if you guys could see how my review looks before I edit it. I spelled the word blade lnande somehow lmao.
Jay White def Ricky Starks by DQ - This isn’t really the main event. Don Callis is ending the show. That makes sense but they should have pushed it more to make it feel like a bigger deal. They only mentioned it briefly at the beginning of the show. The action has been good with a lot of chops and strikes. We have a dueling “Let’s go Switchblade”, “Ricky Starks” chant headed into break. Starks gets a near fall after a swinging DDT. The crowd is back into it with “this is awesome chants”. White hit a back drop to the outside. Starks got a roll up for a near fall after Jay rolled him back into the ring. Near fall for Starks after a slam. Starks sent for Roshambo White went for Blade Runner. Starks hit a huge spear and went for Roshambo again. The crowd is on their feet for this. Jay digs his finger into Starks eyes. Juice is in the ring with a chair. Swing and miss. Starks has the chair now and nails Juice. He uses the chair on White which leads to the rare DQ finish. Starks plays the chair like a guitar after the match. That might be a nod to the Wolf Pack which is maybe a sign he might join Bullet Club Gold? Maybe it means something, probably not. Grade 3 ½ *
We are ending the show with a Main Event promo after an opening promo to start the show. That might be a first for AEW. I don’t mind it. Especially 2 weeks before a PPV. Don Callis enters to no music and incredible heat. This would have been better if they built it up the whole show. The crowd is chanting “piece of shit”. My wife predicted that lol. Don says he is going to talk about what Kenny did to him. The crowd is shitting on this as they should. This is going over perfectly. Don says he created Kenny. That brings Omega out. Kenny starts to destroy the indy jobber security guys. Blackpool comes out so we’ll get Don Callis explanation another day. I think that’s smart to not give it away so quickly. I think there is a good chance Callis screws Omega again in whatever match they are doing at Double or Nothing. The Bucks limp out with weapons to back up Omega.
Hangman Page returns to a roaring crowd. He has a gold eye patch. It looks cool. Like a pirate cowboy. Ooohhh, I should trademark that. Mmmm it probably already is. Yuta gets destroyed with a BTE trigger. Kenny is holding a trashcan lid but does nothing with it. Hangman nails Wheeler with a Buckshot Lariat. Hangman grabs the mic and says we are the Elite and we are the heart and soul of this place. The crowd is eating this up. This was an excellent way to put the spotlight on Hangman as one of the top guys in the company which he is. Hangman says at Double or Nothing it’s going to be the Elite vs BCC in Anarchy in the Arena. YES! Anarchy in the Arena is amazing. I was at DON last year and it was probably the best match I’ve ever seen live. The atmosphere was dope. It was like a street fight meets a rock concert. The crowd went nuts the whole time. I will say if it’s just 4 on 4 I will be a little disappointed Takeshita doesn’t get to be in the match. That said, I think he will end up being involved. Possibly turning heel and joining Callis and BCC.
I wouldn’t say AEW knocked it out of the park like last week. This did end up being a great edition of Dynamite by the end. They did an excellent job building to the PPV. There were things that could have been better. MJF should have had a bigger presence. I’m disappointed by the way they announced the Toni Storm/Jamie Hayter women’s title match. It doesn’t seem like a big match at all. There have been a lot of women involved in the Outcasts vs homegrown feud. The high points in the storyline have revolved around Britt Baker, Saraya and Shida yet none of them have a match at DON yet. Hayter has been an afterthought in the program. That stood out even more tonight with her not being on the show. They haven’t booked the Women’s Champion well. I was hoping for a more compelling title match and a multi women match at DON even if it were on the preshow. I want to see the women in a better position. I don’t think we’re going to get there at Double or Nothing.
Tony Khan’s big announcement was really big this time. I think it fell flat because there was supposed to be more to it. Most likely involving CM Punk. Announcing all the locations of shows except the first one was weird. It’s a sign that something is indeed off. I also thought he might announce AEW’s involvement in the new Max streaming service and that they are going to move the Pay Per Views to Max. I’m glad we are getting AEW Saturday Collision but we’ve known about it for months so it was really more just confirmation than a huge announcement. I thought there would be more to it.
There wasn’t anything bad on the show. That has been consistent since I started covering Dynamite. I think they built up Double or Nothing very well but there wasn’t that wow I need order the PPV moment like we had a few times last week. Everything was done well. All the matches good. The falls count anywhere match was great. Even if AEW didn’t knock it out of the park tonight, it was an entertaining show top to bottom that continued to build my excitement for Double or Nothing. That is the main thing I’m looking for headed into a PPV.
Overall Grade 7.7
2023 overall grade 7.78
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