AEW
All Elite Wrestling presented its 100th episode of Dynamite on, Wednesday which also served as the go-home show to one of the biggest pay-per-views, All Out, this Sunday. The show featured CM Punk’s final words ahead of his highly anticipated match against Darby Allin, a grudge match between FTR against Satana and Ortiz, and headline the card the Jurassic Express and the Lucha Brothers took on the Elite in an eight-man tag match. The go-home to All Out was an enticing show and here’s what happened.
The show opened with Santana and Ortiz against FTR in a grudge match between the two teams. Dax Harwood and Santana started the match for their perspective teams and the two exchanged chops early in the bout. After a back in forth between the two teams Santana and Ortiz we were able to grab momentum by hitting a double dive through the ropes hitting FTR. Eventually, FTR would regain control of the match as both Harwood and Cash Wheeler began to target Ortiz’s right arm. FTR then exposed a top turnbuckle, which played well with the heel gimmick and continued to work Ortiz’s arm with the exposed steel in the corner.
After Ortiz was able to get a hot tag Santana took over with a flurry of offense and combo moves with Ortiz, at one point performed a cutter into a suplex for a false finish. The high spot of the match was when Harwood performed a superplex from the top rope to Ortiz, while Wheeler had Santana laid across the top rope. Wheeler then attempted a double ax handle from the top rope but ultimately missed Ortiz. FTR then hit their finisher, Big Rig, but Santana made the save, and after some back and forth between the two teams Santana and Ortiz were able to land a backward double suplex leading to the finish of the match. This was a great start to the show as two talented tag teams showcased what they could do in a 20-minute match, but due to few awkward spots, at one point Wheeler tried to flip Ortiz up onto the apron of his corner, this match gets a seven out of 10.
Next, up on the card, CM Punk came out to give his final words ahead of his match at All Out against Darby Allin. And man did the fans eat this up, they were cheering and chanting “CM Punk, CM Punk, CM Punk!” This was something Punk took note of saying “Man don’t you all get tired of me,” once he was in the ring. Punk had the crowd eating out of his hand and played to his Babyface role tremendously by saying that he promises every time he laces up his boots and goes between those ropes he’ll give it his best out there all for them, the fans.
Unfortunately in the middle of Punks promo Daniel Garcia and 2.0 ran in and attacked him which then lead to Sting and Darby Allin, who had previous run-ins with the heel group, to make the save. And it was special to see what happened next as Sting, Allin, and Punk respectively all hit their finishers. This played perfectly to the crowd because seeing Punk’s GTS being performed will just make them even more excited to see his match at All Out. Sting grabbed a microphone and talked about his respect for Punk but also knows that Allin is ready to square off with the best in the world at All Out and then announced that he will not be involved in the match because he’s going to hang back and let Allin take care of business. Overall this was a good promo but I disagree with the amount of time 2.0 and Garcia had to beatdown CM Punk it shouldn’t have taken Sting and Allin that long to come to Punks aid but it makes up for it with Punk hitting the GTS. Seven and half out of ten.
The next match on the card was between Orange Cassidy and Jack Evans, of the Hardy Family Office. This was nothing amazing and was just there. Cassidy was attacked by Matt Hardy as he entered the ring distorting Cassidy before the bell, which Jack Evans took advantage of. After Cassidy hit a tornado DDT he took control of the match which allowed him to make a dive through the ropes and then hit a cross body from the top rope for a nice sequence. The Cassidy showed his king of sloth style skillset by landing the kicks of doom on Evans, a sequence of weak kicks to play mind games with the opponent.
Cassidy then began to trade off standing switches with Evans getting into his head even more. But this when the match turned to the worse as the broadcast went to picture in picture for commercial break Cassidy rolled Evans with the inside cradle and then won the match because of it. As the broadcast came back from picture in picture all that can be seen was Cassidy’s hand being raised in the air signifying his win. This is when Hardy ran in to attack Cassidy, then followed by Best Friends to save Cassidy, then followed by the rest of the Hardy Family office to help Hardy, and then it was followed by it Jurassic Express running in to help their fellow Babyfaces in Cassidy and Best Friends. This match was designed to build the feud between Cassidy and Hardy for All Out but the match itself wasn’t great and all the run-ins at the end, especially the last as it made no sense for Jurassic Express to help Cassidy and Best Friends since they weren’t even feuding with the Hardy Family Office. Five and half out of ten.
Next Jim Ross invited Chris Jericho to the ring for a one-on-one about his match with MJF at All Out with the stipulation that if Jericho loses he’ll never wrestle in AEW again. Jericho came out and the crowd was exciting they were sing along to Judas, Jericho’s theme. Once Jericho was in the ring Jim Ross asked him why did he make the stipulation for the match does he not know what’s all at stake?
Jericho responded by explaining that he can’t let go of the three losses he’s suffered at the hand of the MJF that he knew he would have to put it all on the line to right the wrong of those defeats. He couldn’t live with the fact that throughout his storied career that if were to retire right now with those losses to a person like MJF he wouldn’t be able to live with that. Jericho then transitioned into thanking the fans for everything and that if he loses he’ll go straight to the commentary table, but it wasn’t going to come to that because MJF doesn’t have what it takes to get rid of Chris Jericho forever. This was a great fiery promo by Jericho that shows why he has been one of the best on the microphone throughout his career. Eight out of ten segment.
Powerhouse Hobbs versus Brian Cage was next and it was a standard big man match. Cage first attacked Hobbs, who was making his entrance, but then lost the upper hand after the bell rung when Hook distracted him. The two then showed their strength and agility showing off how athletic they are. Eventually, Hobbs gained the upper hand on Cage for the win as a result of outside interference from the FTW champion, Ricky Starks. This was an alright match but felt as if it was just to move the show along and the crowd wasn’t really into it overall just an average match. Six out of ten.
The next segment was between QT Marshall with the Factory and Paul Wight. This segment was mostly lackluster it was designed to build heat for the heel Marshall and gain momentum between the two at All Out and to make Paul Wight the underdog to cheer for. During the segment, Wight came out and took out most of Marshall’s goons and had some assistance from Billy Gunn and the Gunn Club. But right as the Babyfaces were standing tall Gunn took the chair he had in hand and struck Wight with it turning the Gunn Club heel in the process. This then led to a post-match beatdown of Wight by Marshall and his faction. Nothing overly interesting mainly benefits Gunn Club since Austin and Colten Gunn are young wrestlers and this allows them to build a heel character and garner interest in them. Five and half out of ten
Tay Conti then took on Penelope Ford, who newly aligned with the Bunny the week before. This match did show off how athletic Tay Conti was as she hit springboard coming off the ropes. Ford was able to showcase her agility by performing a series of cartwheels and back hand-stands to deliver an elbow to Conti in the corner. Conti was able to pick up the win with a rollup on Ford after a failed distraction by the Bunny. This then turned to a post-match beatdown of Conti but it led to a run-in of a returning Anna Jay who came to save her friend. Overall this match did show off how good Ford and Conti are in the ring but it was designed to set up the return of Jay. Six out of ten.
The main event saw the Elite take on Jurassic Express and the Lucha Brothers in an eight-man tag match and it did not miss at all. It was full of action, high spots, and high flying action. The start of the match was a superkick party as the Bucks and Lucha Bros exchanged superkicks at one point knocking each other out to make a hot tag to their prospective partners. Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson were able to hit the Magic Killer, but Luchasasurus saved the matchup. Shortly after Luchasasurs was dispatched, the Bucks hit the Meltzer Driver on Rey Fenix leading to the end of the match. The show wasn’t over yet though Kenny Omega, the leader of the Elite and AEW World Champion, came down and led a post-match beatdown of Jurassic Express and the Lucha Bros.
Christian Cage tried to make the save he was ultimately overwhelmed by the numbers advantage the Elite had. Omega had a cage lower around the ring, leaving Cage and the Lucha Bros trapped inside. The Elite continued the beatdown and prevented any Babyfaces from climbing into the cage to aid Cage and the Lucha Bros. Eventually, the show ended with the Lucha Bros taking multiple superkicks from the Bucks and Cage taking the BTE trigger. Overall, the match was great. Omega drew great heat through his direction of the beatdown and having the cage lowered. This also keeps fans on their toes to see what will happen at this Sunday’s All Out. Will Cage be able to best Omega for the AEW World Title? Can the Lucha Bros bounce back and dethrone the Bucks for the tag titles? Great ending to the show eight and half out of ten.
As a whole, this week’s Dynamite gets a six and a half out of ten. There were great matches and promos but ultimately the show was brought down by awkward finishes. Still, a well-rounded show heading into this Sunday’s high anticipated pay-per-view All Out.