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Acero’s AEW Dynamite Review 8.21.24
Image Credit: AEW
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Hey all! Sorry about the haphazard past few weeks. I’m in the process of finding a new bar as well as getting a book ready to be released! Stay tuned next week for info on THAT! Until then, let’s get to some AEW!
It’s Wednesday, you know what that means…
Britt Baker is here for a contract signing. After her entrance comes Mercedes Mone and Kamille.
Tony reminds them that they have agreed to no physicality. The girls take a seat. Tony says that signing this contract makes it official.
Mercedes gets the mic first, says let’s just get to it. She tries for the hometown pop then says this Sunday, she’ll make Britt tap out, and everyone will know that what she has been saying is true. Britt is the past, and she will forever be the future.
Britt calls this cute, says when she thinks of the past, she remembers last year at All In when Mercedes hobbled in on crutches to watch her. Before there was a CEO, there was a DMD.
This makes Mone sick, and she mocks the crowd. We only like Britt because we see ourselves in her. A loser. This is why she won’t beat Mone. She tells us to be quiet because we paid to see her. Britt is her biggest fan, though. This is Britt’s dream match. She inspired Britt, but Britt had to get a little degree to fall back on, so is she really all in? She has been all in since ten years old. She’s been putting women’s wrestling on the map. That’s All In. Britt doesn’t have the guts. She’ll never be like her. This Sunday, Britt will not beat her.
Britt wants to talk about guts. She has the guts. Mone, she had the guts, the heart, and the balls because she never had a plan B, she had two plan As. Mone is the Blueprint? She’s the gold standard. Mercedes was one of four, she is one of one. Britt is the baddest bitch on the block. Mone is right about one thing; she admired Mone. She wanted to be her. She walked so girls like Britt could run. Girls like her could be the first female and foundation of the company Mone is sitting in right now. Mone made a difference, but that person doesn’t exist anymore. That person is gone. Mone is a smug, arrogant ass and she cares more about being the highest-paid female in pro wrestling than about her own damn legacy that inspired the future like Britt. She doesn’t know where that girl went, but she hopes Mone finds her again and finds her fast. Because when Britt wins, that is the girl she wants to be able to say she beat.
Britt stands, she says relax. She’ll follow the rules. She wont hit Mone….but Kamille can get it.
She clocks her on the head with the mic, then sends her into the chair onto Mone. Britt with a crossbody onto both of them.
The heels leave as Britt grabs the title to hold it high in the corner.
Backstage, Renee is with Chris Jericho and his goons. He is moments away from a match. Renee wants to know his thoughts. Jericho says hello. Something has been bothering him. Billington calls himself the Dynamite Kid, but what right does he have? Because DK is his uncle? Is Billinton as fast or good or angry or mean as the original? As far as Jericho is concerned, Tommy doesn’t even deserve to be on Dynamite.
Tommy Billington vs Chris Jericho
Arm drag to Jericho! Lockup and Tommy hits another. They do some rope work after a lockup and Tommy hits a shoulder tackle, then a body slam. TO the top rope. Jericho is up. Dropkick off the top! Kip up! Jericho sends Tommy outside and Big Bill gets a cheap shot as we go to break.
We are back and we missed a double crossbody in the middle of the ring. Ok, we didn’t miss it, because they show it, but you get what I’m saying. Tommy takes over with a dropkick then a scoop slam. He whips, hops up and lands on his ass as Jericho holds onto the ropes! Lionsault! Cover! 1….2..NO!!! Tommy kicks out, drops Jericho one time, but I had to sneeze so I missed it. He covers for 1..2.NO!!! Jericho with a surprise Walls! Tommy screams in agony. He reaches the ropes! Suplex from Tommy! Rope work, Jericho catches him for a piledriver, but Tommy reverses and hits his own! Cover! 1…2nO!!! Tommy to the top rope!
He dives onto Keith outside! He side steps Bill! Tommy pulls himself up on the apron! DIVING HE—NO!!!! CODEBREAKER! COVER! 1…2…3!!!!
Winner: Chris Jericho
A nice enough intro to Tommy for me. He started off generic and added some of his own flair as he went on, all seemingly by design.
Total Rating: **
Match Time: 9:26
Jericho grabs a mic, calls Hook a stupid bastard, and says he’ll do the same to him at All In. If Hook was here in England, he’d rip him apart branch by branch.
Hook IS here! He walks down the ramp, into the ring, and goes nose to nose with Jericho. Here comes Big Bill to attack and hit a HUGE chokeslam to Hook! Lord, that was high.
AEW Women’s Championship Match
Toni Storm vs Saraya
LOCKUP! Arm drag from Toni! She poses and the crowd loves her. Side headlock takedown from Toni, leg scissors from Saraya, she tries her own takedown, but Toni turns it into a pin. Kick from Saraya. Whip to the corner, Toni ducks under, they lock fingers, Toni fucks with Saraya a bit with a kick and asks Saray to grab it but fakes her out. They exchange some holds. Rollup for 1..2NO!! Saraya backs up and she is pissed. She rolls onto the apron and asks for separation. Toni poses again. Saraya and Toni take turns screaming then Saraya hangs her up and drives some knees into the chest of Toni. Saraya distracts the ref and Harley sends Toni into the railing. She turns and Saraya flies off with a cannonball.
We are BACK and Toni hits a DDT. Fisherman’s! Bridge! 1..2….NO!!! Toni Toni lifts Saraya up for a piledriver, but Saraya side steps and spins Toni down hard with a slam. That was nice. Saraya to the top rope. Pulls Toni up. Right hands. Saraya tries for a powerbomb, hits it but it is sloppy as shit. RAMPAIGE! COVER! 1….2…NO!!! Toni with a rope break! Harley on the apron! Ref is distracted.
Toni walks over and makes out with Harley then rolls up Saraya! 1…2..NO!!! Toni with a kiss to Saraya! Storm Zero! Cover! 1..2…3!!!
Winner: Toni Storm
A little too house showey for me, but a nice win before All-In.
Total Rating: **
Match Time: 8:40
Toni celebrates, but of course, here comes Mariah May with the shoe!!!
We are backstage with Kyle O’Reilly, Willow Nightingale, Orange Cassidy, Tomohiro Ishii, and Mark Briscoe.
Mark cuts this profound piece of work:
We, the collected few, have taken to the streets with our battle cries, and like the man who once rode a horse to warn that the British are coming, we can only hope that the warning has been echoed through the cobbled roads of London, for it is us and my cohorts that will make bloodshed, and we will do it with a smile. Oh yes, we will do it with a smile.
Will Ospreay is here for some talky talk time!
He gets a nice welcome from the crowd but it’s cut short because MJF music hits, and he comes out wearing the American flag as a blazer. The crowd tries to sing his crowd, which is kind of funny.
Here goes another non-physicality clause in effect. The crowd is lit.
Will is shocked that a place like Wales is loving an Essex boy. He likens it to a TV show on BBC that I don’t know. The crowd gets it, though. He drove 3 hours to Wales, wrestled in the smallest of bingo halls, and just last year, he wrestled in a bar filthier than the wife. But Sunday, he’ll clean up the mess MJF made here. May as well call him Barry Scott, because by Sunday, BANG and the dirt is gone!
Ok, so Barry Scott was the English spokesperson and mascot for cleaning product “CILLIT BANG” where he would frequently say, “BANG! And the dirt is gone.”
MJF says jam-packed arenas chanted his name twice as loud as they ever have Will’s. The crowd drowns MJF out. MJF says he didn’t have to be a cute little flip merchant to get the job done. All he had to do was this: MJF poses like a kangaroo. MJF came back early from injury. Wanna know why? Because he was begged by top brass and WBD to clean up WILL’S mess. He calls Will an arrogant little prick.
Will says to look in the mirror and shut up. He says he heard of this wrestling promotion where wrestling was at the top of the game. So he and his friends turned on the telly and didn’t see that, he saw MJF and his friends circle jerkin each other during a PPV that should have focused on great people going against each other, but MJF and Cole were on top.
Think about it. Tony Khan has 3000 people signed back there, but calls Will. But this is where it gets good – Khan tells him to please go put on a good wrestling match because he can’t rely on his World Champion to do it. MJF has entertained, and Will doesn’t mind it. But they are meant to be the alternative, to cater to us and our voices. This is not just about restoring the International Championship, it’s about restoring the feeling, and BRUV he is the feeling!!!
Crowd love that.
MJF tries to take over, but the crowd sings some OLE. MJF says of all the trash coming out of Will’s mouth, he’s got one thing right – MJF doesn’t care about catering to we people, because we are meaningless. MJF cares about one thing, it’s what Americans do best. We win. What’s so sad is he actually believed that four-eyed curly-haired dork Tony Khan when he told him that the company would be safe in Will’s capable hands. Who the hell is Will Ospreay? Everybody knows who MJF is. They all agree: MJF is the best pro-wrestler on God’s green earth. So he’s curious. Who told Will that he was the best? These people? Ha! We know nothing about wrestling, and he knows this is true because we like Will’s matches. So be the feeling all you want, because Friedman is the facts. Fact is he is the youngest and longest reigning AEW World Champion of all time. The fact is he headlined and won the biggest show of all time. The fact is when they talk about this generation of pro-wrestling, he’ll be the Ace and Will will be 2nd place. He hails from the only country that matters, the USA, And most importantly, Will has one move in the chamber, and it’s the only one he can use to defeat me, and the fact is Will ain’t man enough to pull the trigger.
He tells Will that we can feel all we want because he is the facts and facts don’t care about feelings.
Will says the history books can be rewritten, but what can’t be rewritten is how people feel.
Will: “You have never inspired a single person to want to do this.”
Will tells MJF to go all over Europe, go to Australia, New Zealand. Go to Japan and say that shit in Japanese like Will just did. They will say Ospreay. Go to America, up and down this country and ask who the best in the world is and they will say him. He cannot lose, not in front of his family, his wife, his kids. He knows why MJF doesn’t like him. It took MJF four years to win us over, and it took Will four beats of his music to win them over.
MJF: “THEY LOVED ME UNTIL YOU SHOWED UP!”
MJF tells us all to shut up. He’s right, MJF can never be like Will. He’s a great human being, husband, father, pro-wrestler. In every way, he fell short to be the face of AEW, Will manned up and done it. However, MJF spent some time with his kid and his wife. He says so-called kid because Will’s wife was in a prior relationship, had a child with that man, and then Will stepped into the picture and raised that kid like it was his own. But MJF has one more fact…
MJF feels like after the convo he had with Will’s wife the next kid she has won’t be Will’s either.
Will turns to Schiavone. He asks if he has Khan in his ear. Tony says yes. Will asks how much the fine is if he clocks MJF right now. He says $127,000.
Will thinks on it, turns as MJF tells Will he won’t do a damn thing. Will says it’s worth it and attacks and SECURITY FLOCKS LIKE A BUNCH OF BLOODY CROWS!!!! IT’S A MURDER!!!
MJF has his ring and he clocks a bunch of goons then stands tall in his stars and stripes. He clocked Will in the forehead then mounts and punches him over and over. Will with the blade job. He is the best in the world, proclaims MJF. BRAINBUSTAAGHHHHH!!!! CVOer! MJF counts his win! 1..2….3!!!!
Just a great back-and-forth. MJF created a vulnerability within him that turned his one-note heel character into a layered asshole who tried his darndest to gain our love and lost it simply because he’s an asshole. Ugh. I loved it.
Earlier today, Hangman Adam Page did something wild and was asked to leave the building. We see Hangman, and Renee runs up on him to ask what happened. He said he did what he had to do and he is now in the Casino Gauntlet match. Evil Uno walks by and Page tells him to hold on! Page asks him if Uno knows who is in the match. Evil Uno says omg he’s totes in the match and he’s so excited. Page grabs a chair and chin-checks Uno with the chair then says like he said, he will hurt anyone in the way of him and his route to Swerve. He then walks over the body of Uno, dragging his rolling suitcase over the prone body of Uno in the process. Lol. Damn.
AEW Continental Championship Match
Claudio Castagnoli vs Kazuchika Okada
LOCKUP!!! Okada backs Claudio to the ropes and taps the chest playfully. Another lockup and Claudio backs Okada up this time. Clean break then a fake uppercut and Okada flinches. A love tap from Claudio. Side headlock from Claudio. Hits the ropes, shoulder tackle, Okada hops up off the ropes, Claudio catches him, Okada slips behind, tries for a Rainmaker, Claudio escapes, tries for a Neutralizer, Okada flips him, Claudio lands on his fucking feet BECAUSE HE’S THE BEST IN THE FUCKING WORLD! Okada kicks, Claudio kicks, Okaada kicks. They lock fingers, each man kicking. Claudio asks for one more, Okada obliges, kicks from Claudio, knee lift, uppercut. Asks for more, whip to Okada, Okada off the ropes, ducks under, back elbow to Claudio!
We return from break to see Claudio lift up and hit a deadlift suplex from Claudio to Okada! Good lord! Running uppercut in the corner! Uppercut! Again! Another! Another! Ref holds him back, he dodges him and hits another. Okada leaves the ring, so Claudio follows and hits a running uppercut into the barricade! Into the ring Claudio covers. 1.2..NO!!! Both men in the center of the ring. Elbow to Okada. Okada with a right. Claudio with another, does a little shimmy, hits another, Okada with his own. They both stagger, but neither falls. Claudio with one, another, another. Okada drops. Rope work, Claudio holds onto the ropes, Okada hops up, swings Claudio, DDT!! Okada runs with a back senton into the corner. Neckbreaker to Claudio! Cover! 1..2…NO!!! Okada tries to spin Claudio for a Tombstone, but Claudio drops to his knees, then hits an uppercut. Kick from Okada. Claudio catches it, big clothesline to the outside! Okada sends Claudio into the ringpost!
We are BACK and Claudio is trying the Neutralizer, but Okada drops his weight. Claudio gut wrenches and slams Okada!! He hits the ropes. STOMPS to Okada! Cover for 1..2.NO!!! Claudio to the top rope. Okada is up. Dropkick to Claudio! He falls to the outside! Okada rolls to the outside. He sends Claudio into the ring. Follows. Grabs the head, body slam! Okada to the top rope! UPPERCUT FROM CLAUDIO!! Another! Okada is seated on the top rope. Claudio hooks the arm, grabs the tights. Tries for a superplex. Claudio with right hands. Okada with a right! Another! Claudio with some elbows! Okada fights back. Headbutt sends Claudio off the corner. Okada lie over and dropkicks Claudio into the corner! Bodyslam! Okada to the top! Elbow drop! Okada flips off the crowd steps on Claudio’s chest! Claudio does The Undertaker sit up!! Okada turns! BIG SPIN!!! Claudio calls for the end but Okada with a big dropkick to Claudio! But Claudio with a springboard uppercut! He tries to end it but Okada with a White Noise type move! Both guys on their knees. They trade elbows until they stand. Okada with one, another, Claudio hits his own, another, another uppercut! Okada with a backslide! 1..2.NO!!! Misses a clothesline, Claudio pushes up! UPPERCUT!!!!
Okada hangs off the bottom rope! Claudio pulls Okada into the ring but Okada holds onto the ropes! STOMP FROM CESARO!!! COVER!!! 1.2….NO!!!! BUT THE TIME IS UP! WE HIT THE 20:00 MARK!
Winner: Draw
WOWWWWWW! I knew it was gonna be good. I knew it was gonna be great. And yet….it was still so good!
Total Rating: ****1/2
Match Time: 20:00
Here come The Young Bucks to congratulate them on a phenomenal match. So how bout if these two guys go five more minutes What would we say?
They get in the ring, alongside Jack Perry and say that’s definitely not going to happen.
Here comes Darby Allin.
FTR and Darby Allin vs The Young Bucks and Jack Perry
We come back from a break and Dax corners Perry then hits an inverted atomic drop to Nick. Dax tags in Cash, Jack Perry is in wait by himself. Cash gets a tag, Jack backslides with a superkicks. They grab Cash and hit an EVP Trigger but Cash moves and they hit knees. FTR with sharpshooters! Darby in! Sharpshooter to Jack! They break the holds!
The Bucks and Jack grab their titles and try to leave but Cash flies over the top rope onto them! Nick in the ring, superkicks Cash off the apron!
Darby slaps him around a bit Big Coffin drop ends it! Cover for 1..2..3!!!!
Winner: Darby Allin and FTR
Please forgive me as I was completely distracted during this match, unable to give a full recap, but it was fun, trust me, bro.
Total Rating: ***
Match Time: 9:24
The Bucks and Perry try to leave through the crowd, but the music of The Acclaimed hit and here they come!
The Acclaimed has some words for The Bucks. Max tries to get some Royal Court jokes, then says they are the Kings and they’re bringing the belts home. As much as they wanna come down and beat some ass, says Bowens, they have nothing left to prove. FTR, Bucks, they cannot beat The Acclaimed. This won’t change this Sunday. They will fight until they are the next AEW tag team champions.
Renee is backstage with Will Ospreay. She asks about his status. In comes Bryan Danielson. He yells at Will to look at him. “DO IT!” says Bryan. Then walks away and leaves Will to contemplate this newest form of Nike commercial.
We come back to the show to see Nigel in the ring. He announces Swerve Strickland and out comes our champion. Nigel is about to introduce Bryan but wants to talk about Swerve first. Bryan has made it no secret that he’s had issues. People have called him Brittle Bryan, The Neckbreak Kid. Whereas Swerve is in the best shape of his life. How does he feel?
Swerve says he is the most dangerous man in AEW. Because of the pain he has endured and he will inflict. But also because of the people he’s defeated to get here and keep the title. He names a few. He tells Bryan he will dissect him from head to toe. He will do it menacingly.
Nigel says he forgot a name. Swerve says he isn’t done. He appreciates Bryan, especially because they are both Washington State-born. He feels disrespected by him, though. He keeps hearing Bryan’s scripts from interviews saying he’s ready for retirement. That pisses him off. You trying to take that from Swerve? He will make sure Bryan isn’t capable of getting back in the ring. By some act of God, some lightening reviving his body, if that happens, and Bryan gets the itch to go do some independent show, Swerve will be there to beat him down before he goes. Maybe he’ll wanna go to Mexico and hide under a mask. Swerve will be in the streets of Mexico and he’ll beat Bryan down. Maybe, just maybe Bryan will have a sitdown with his family and discuss getting back in the ring, he thinks he can do it again. Guess where he is going to be.
Bryan Danielson has heard enough! He runs down the ramp, enters the ring, hits the ropes, then the knee! Swerve rolls outside. Bryan wants the mic.
Maybe Swerve is confused. A lot of people are confused. He doesn’t come out for 20 minutes weekly to talk about himself. But he knows the truth. He knows who he is. He knows a lot of people say it, throw it around, like it’s just some sort of token or catchphrase but this is the truth:
I AM THE BEST FUCKING WRESTLER IN THE WORLD!
And he has been for the last twenty years. Swerve thinks he’ll beat him, retire him, cripple him in front of his daughter. No, this Sunday, in front of the fans who have paid to see him, for the last 25 years, for his peers who he has traveled the road with for the last 25 years, and in front of his family, his wife, his son, his daughter, Swerve will cripple him? He’ll have to damn near kill him because Bryan will leave his soul in this ring.
Tonight, there has been a lot of talking and fighting, and there is only one question left – can Bryan Danielson, The American Fucking Dragon, beat Swerve Strickland for the AEW World Championship?
YES! Chant is loud and proud.
They know the answer and Swerve knows the answer.
Lets. Fucking. Go.
End Show
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