Posted in: AEW, Sports, TV | Tagged: aew, dynamite, recaps, wrestling
AEW Dynamite – The Greatest Night in the History of Our Sport
In the second hour of AEW Dynamite, a full-blown musical number and an old school finish deliver the greatest night in the history of AEW Dynamite. Welcome to Bleeding Cool's AEW Dynamite Report. We watch Dynamite, so you don't have to. You're welcome.
AEW Dynamite Report for October 21, 2020 Part 2
Alex Marvez talks to Colt Cabana, Alex Reynolds, and John Silver. Reynolds said Mr. Brodie taught them to seize opportunities, and they're gonna seize the opportunity tonight and become the. Cabana says he's on a mission to become the AEW World Champion. He sees this opportunity as a sign from the Exalted one, and he feels zero pressure. Silver freaks out. He says the whole Dark Order is under pressure! He says Cabana needs to win the AEW Championship, Silver and Reynolds need to win the tag belts, and Brodie Lee needs to win back his TNT Championship. He says the whole Dark Order will be here next week to see Cody's rematch with Orange Cassidy, and they'll beat down whoever wins. He's really amped about all this. I think it may be the first time I've seen him talk.
JR thinks Silver may have been jacked up on Mountain Dew. Cabana comes to the ring. Hangman Adam Page comes to the ring.
Colt Cabana vs. Hangman Adam Page – Eliminator Tournament Round 1
- It's obvious to everyone that Page vs. Omega is the point of this tournament, right? And that therefore, Cabana stands no chance in hell here?
- Evil Uno comes out to cheer Cabana on. I like Uno's role as a guy trying to keep the morale up in the Dark Order as Lee rages over losing his title.
- Most brutal spot of the match: Cabana tosses Page off the top turnbuckle onto his back on the apron. Ouch!
- Page wins with the Buckshot Lariat, as we all knew he would.
Winner: Hangman Page
The Dark Order heads to the ring after the match, but not to attack Page. They pick up Cabana and help him out of the ring and up the ramp. Anyway, Page advances to face Wardlow next week. The winner of that match (Page) will face the winner of Fenix vs. Omega (Omega) at Full Gear.
Well, that's round one of the tournaments done. And still 45 minutes of Dynamite left to go. We see a video package about the Sammy Gurvera vs. Matt Hardy feud, and Dynamite takes a commercial break.
Taz cuts a promo with Brian Cage and Ricky Starks at his side. He calls out Will Hobbs. Hobbs hasn't answered Taz's offer to join Team Taz. Taz says Hobbs better answer soon. Taz says it "burns my ass" that Darby Allin is getting a shot at the TNT Championship. He tells a story of Tony Khan pulling him aside earlier and saying Ricky Starks could be in that spot if he won. Taz says that finish was bullshit. He says Darby Allin gets everything he wants. But what does Cage get? What does Starks get?
Starks says he had the rug pulled out from under him. He has to watch Allin get a shot at the title and be okay with that? He says he's not okay, and someone has to pay for that. That someone will be Darby Allin. Starks has the camera zoom in on him and says he's putting Allin in the grave, "you half face-painted little bitch."
And now, it's time for the moment we've all been waiting for. I've been waiting for it, at least. It's steak dinner with Chris Jericho and MJF. This is as ridiculous and overdramatic as you can imagine it is. MJF is a jerk to the waitress, Velma. Both order porterhouse steaks, but MJF gets his well done, and Jericho gets his medium-well. MJF doesn't want to be outdone, so he changes his order to medium. Jericho changes his to medium-rare. MJF orders his rare. Jericho orders his blue, "aka extra bloody rare." She leaves.
Jericho asks MJF what they're doing. He says MJF has been rude to everyone. They're having a Town Hall meeting with the Inner Circle to see if MJF should join next week, but Jericho isn't sure if he even should. MJF says this is a big opportunity for both of them. Jericho says, "the ratings ruler" is a bad nickname. It has as much a chance of getting over as… they both say "Orange Cassidy" at the same time. Then they both laugh.
MJF says they're already getting over their differences. Holy shit, they're singing. This has turned into a full-blown musical number, and I'm not even f**king joking. I'm dead. I'm dead. They are singing and dancing. There are dancing girls. They're singing about wrestling. WIth 1940s Rat Pack accents. I can't. They sing and dance back to their table, where they're served completely raw steak. They agree they need to send it back. This is, without question, the greatest segment ever in pro wrestling.
Commercials happen. KiLynn King is in the ring. Dr. Britt Baker comes out with Reba. Uh. How can we just have regular wrestling after the magic we just witnessed.
KiLynn King vs. Britt Baker
- The highlight here is on commentary when is JR gets Tony all worked, and Tony calls Britt Baker "a domineering bitch."
- This is Baker's official return to the ring, as her match at All Out was a cinematic one since she wasn't ready.
- Baker shows off a new presence in the ring. She's been working on psychology while she's been out, I guess. Baker's assault on King is done with direction. Baker's in-ring skills are catching up with her character work, and it's great to see.
- Baker wins with a stomp and the Lockjaw. King taps out right away.
Winner: Britt Baker
That was a good match. A squash to make Baker look good, but it accomplished that. Commentary says Baker is ranked #5 in the women's division. When she reaches the top, I imagine it's time for her championship run.
Hangman Page faces Wardlow, and Kenny Omega faces Rey Fenix. Tay Conti takes on Abadon. Cody defends the TNT Championship against Dark Order in a Lumberjack Match (meant to prevent Dark Order from interfering). And the Inner Circle will hold a town hall to see if MJF should join the Inner Circle.
At Full Gear, Jon Moxley defends the championship against Eddie Kingston in an I Quit match. FTR defends against the number one contenders, who will be decided tonight in Dynamite's main event. Matt Hardy will face Sammy Guevara in The Elite Deletion. Darby Allin will challenge for the TNT Championship against whoever wins next week.
Darby Allin hangs with Steve-O of Jackass. Steve-O says there's something wrong with Allin because before his title match next week, he's going to roll into a skate ramp in a body bag. IT looks like it hurts.
The Butcher and The Blade come out. Allie is with them. Was there an explanation for why Allie stopped hanging out with QT Marshall on Dark or something? Oh, look at that. It looks like Kingston brought Allie back into the fold, as revealed in a clip from Dark last night. Maybe I should start watching that. I could just do nothing ever in my free time but watch wrestling, right? That wouldn't be too much?
Dynamite takes a commercial break. FTR comes out to commentary during the break. Private Part and Dark Order also do their entrances during the break. The Young Bucks come out after the break. EVP perks, boys.
The Butcher and The Blade vs. Private Party vs. The Dark Order vs. The Young Bucks
- I don't know. This match is good, but I don't know if I can process any more wrestling tonight after that musical number.
- This is a four-way match which, like many of the matches tonight, we know the outcome of. That's because a lot of the matches tonight are setting up blowoffs for feuds that have been building for weeks and, in some cases, months. The Young Bucks have to win here because The Bucks vs. FTR is the match everyone wants to see.
- It really is a good match, though. Even during the picture-in-picture, there's some good violence happening.
- And also some bad violence, like when Private Party hit a combo splash/leg drop off the top rope on Alex Reynolds and Isiah Kassidy's leg connects with Reynolds' face. He appears to get knocked out, but the other wrestlers just sort of roll him out of the way to continue the match. These things happen, as Goldberg would say, but I hope Reynolds is okay.
- It ends in a roll-up sequence between Matt Jackson and Isiah Kassidy, which Matt wins.
Winners: The Young Bucks
Well, we knew this was going to happen, but it still felt good to watch—so many nuances here, including a callback to the first AEW Tag Team championship tournament where. FTR comes out with beers to toast the Young Bucks, but the Bucks slap the beers out of their hands. The timekeeper, wearing a mask, attacks the Bucks from behind with a chair. FTR beat them down. The timekeeper hits a triple spike piledriver with FTR. FTR and the mystery man put a chair on Matt Jackson's leg, and Cash Wheeler jumps on it from the second rope. The guy pulls off his mask, and holy crap, it's Tully Blanchard. I didn't know he could still move like that!
Referees come out and chase these nasty heels out of the ring as Matt Jackson sells his leg. This was such an old school ending.
AEW Dynamite – Was It Any Good?
Man, what a Dynamite. Honestly, I think the musical number both elevated this episode of Dynamite and also overshadowed it. Other than the musical number, this was a killer episode of what is classically considered pro wrestling. We had great promos by Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston; four solid tournament matches all building toward a feud (Kenny Omega vs. Hangman Page) that's been building for a year. We had an impressive return to the ring by Britt Baker. And that main event with a classic ending to the show. This episode of Dynamite did it for me in all the right ways. This is the kind of stuff that made me love pro wrestling, to begin with. And Full Gear is still not one but two weeks away!
Damn, I have to watch NXT now.