wrestling / TV Reports

Cazer’s AEW Dynamite Review 10.23.21

October 23, 2021 | Posted by Andrew Cazer
Cody Rhodes Cody Rhodes
8
The 411 Rating
Community Grade
12345678910
Your Grade
Loading...
Cazer’s AEW Dynamite Review 10.23.21  

AEW Dynamite
Date: October  23rd, 2021
Location: Orlando, FL
Commentators: Excalibur, JR, and Tony Schiavone 

It’s Saturday Night you know what that means! It’s time for another special edition of AEW Dynamite courtesy of our boys over at NHL on TNT following AEW Rampage on Friday. That also means it’s your boy the resident Impact Wrestling Live Coverage guy here for the AEW (All Elite Wrestling) live coverage. It’ll be the last preempted Dynamite of the year, I believe, but don’t quote me on that.

– Tonight we get the first match up of the TBS Title tournament with Penelope Ford taking on Ruby Soho. Both of these women have been featured prominently so it’s really a toss up who could win here. But leaning towards Soho. The World Title Eliminator Tournament will continue as well Dustin Rhodes will face Bryan Danielson and Lance Archer will take on Eddie Kingston in their respective tournament matches.

Cody Rhodes will face Malakai Black in their third match up. Thus far Malakai has had Cody’s number but on last nights Rampage Cody showed up to take out Malakai and Andrade during their attack on Pac at the end of the show. Could we see Andrade get involved in this one? Jungle Boy is set to squash Brandon Cutler and i’m sure Tony Khan has a couple other things up his sleeve. AEW Dynamite is always a good time so let’s get to the action!

– We run down the card for the night including Bobby Fish in singles action again this time facing Anthony Greene, among other already previously announced matches.

AEW World Championship Eliminator Tournament
Bryan Danielson (3-0-1) vs. Dustin Rhodes (5-1)

Danielson offers a handshake and we get a friendly start to this one. Lockup and Danielson takes the wrist, Dustin gains control but Bryan reverses into a headlock. Dustin rolls out and both men pause to reassess. Lockup again Danielson tosses Dustin into the ropes he drops Danielson with a shoulderblock Danielson counters with a hiptoss. Both men pause yet again.

Test of strength and Danielson goes right to his back to wrestle Dustin to the mat. Danielson looking for a submission and starts driving his knee into the ribs of Dustin. Dustin drops back torqueing the knee of Dustin. Danielson locks in a Tornado stretch but Dustin gets the ropes to force the break. Danielson has Dustin on the ropes and hits him with a huge uppercut. Dustin gets dumped to the outside and Danielson goes for a tope suicida that seems to hurt Danielson more than Dustin.

Dustin to his feet first and hits a senton off the apron onto a standing Danielson. Dustin tosses Danielson into the ring for a cover and hardly gets a one count before Danielson kicks out aggressively. Dustin with a wristlock on Danielson, Danielson rolls through and dropkicks Dustin in his knee taking him to the ground. Danielson gets Dustin to his feet and starts hitting him with a combination of kicks and strikes. Dustin with a german suplex out of nowhere to take control. Dustin lifts Danielson sends him face first into the turnbuckle and follows with a series of chops.

Danielson chops back sending Dustin into the corner and follows with a kick to the chest and a headbutt. Danielson looking for a cross armbreaker but Dustin prevents it from being locked in fully. Danielson stomps on the elbow of Dustin and soaks in the crowd reaction. We see Tony Neese in the front row for AEW Dynamite. Danielson to the top rope but Dustin blocks him and hits a superplex off the top that made me say ‘wooo’ out loud.  Bryce starts to count but Danielson gets to his feet first, Dustin shortly after and we get a strike exchange. Danielson takes advantage and sends Dustin into the corner, Dustin reverses but we get the Danielson backflip, Danielson into the ropes but eats a powerslam on the way back.

Dustin with the neckbreaker and a pinfall but Danielson kicks out at two. Dustin has Danielson in the corner and we get Dustins Goldust 10 strikes in the corner. Danielson reverses and sends Dustin into the corner, Danielson follows with a dropkick. Danielson blasts Dustin with some chops and kicks in the corner before lifting Dustin to the top for a hurricanrana. Dustin Sends Danielson onto the top rope groin first and clotheslines Danielson off the top rope into the ring.

Danielson looking for a submission but Dustin tucks his chin to block. Danielson locks in the Labelle lock but Dustin breaks the hold with the bottom rope. Dustin gets to his feet and eats Danielson kicks to the chest, Dustin pumps up and says come on  mother f’er. Danielson and Dustin exchange strikes, Dustin drops to his knees goes for the uppercut but Danielson reverses it into a roll up for two. Danielson drops Dustin with an Enziguri and starts stomping on the face of Dustin Rhodes.

Danielson taunts and calls his shot, raising his arm for Dustin to get up. Danielson runs at Dustin early, Dustin drops him with a clothesline. Dustin follows with a piledriver, Dustin covers…TWO COUNT!!! This is ELECTRIC! The crowd is pumped. Dustin lifts Danielson to his feet, goes for a suplex Danielson counters with a knee strike and a roundhouse kick. Danielson locks in a guillotine. Dustin begins to fade and Danielson locks it in deeper. Dustin Rhodes passes out and Danielson wins!
Winner: Bryan Danielson
Rating: A.
Review: Wow this was so fun. I didn’t think they’d get me to bite on Dustin winning, but for a second there I had thoughts of an upset swerve. Seems silly in hindsight but this match was that good to make you believe even for a second that Dustin could win. This was a lot of fun. Danielson has been able to have stellar matches with people he’d likely have gone 3 minutes with up north. 

– Kenny Omega (not Omaga smh Excalibur) is backstage with the Elite. Kenny’s heard the Hangman news, it’s the Dark Order vs. The Elite next week for the Halloween Episode. He says he should be excited for the halloween episode, he can’t be. He knows all of Hangman’s insecurities, he knows he’s terrified to face Omega at the PPV. He says if the people knew who he really was they wouldn’t chant cowboy shit, they’d be chanting COWARD shit. Solid Kenny promo, this feud is so deep that it won’t take much to reignite that fire.

– FTR is back and ready to cut a promo on the current AEW tag team champions. They say they watched all these tag teams cosplay as great champions for the last year but now they’re ready to get the belts back. We get a response from Pentagon, Alex translates to tell us that they hurt Fenix, and they took their titles. If they want to play dirty The Lucha Brothers will show them dirty. They say revenge is coming. FTR say if you think the black eye is bad wait till Full Gear. Top Guys out.

– It starts to snow and the Stinger is here to give us an update on everybody’s favorite daredevil Darby Allin. Tony asks Sting about Darby and before he can even respond MJF’s theme hits. MJF asks the people of Florida to show some class for once, doubtful. He calls Sting Darby’s little emo daddy. MJF says he’s not here to fight Sting, he’s here for a gentleman’s chat. He says Sting doesn’t want to tell the people the truth because the truth is their hero isn’t coming back. The crowd silences MJF for a moment with some unsavory chants. MJF calls Sting a bad person and continues to insult the state of Florida. MJF says when people need Sting the most he’s nowhere to be found. He says it’s no surprise Darby ended up like Stings old friend Lex Luger….in a wheel chair.

Sting drops MJF with a right hand. The Pinnacle hit the ring to attack sting but he fights them off momentarily. The numbers and Wardlow’s strength is too much for Sting to overcome. Spears lays away at sting with a number of chair shots. MJF smiles over his dirty work and Spears sets a chair out in the center of the ring. MJF puts his jacket back on and sits in the chair. He asks if he’s broken Darby mentally now. They set the fallen Sting in the lap of MJF and he tells Darby to look at him. He says no matter how much people chant his name, no matter how bad they want to see him come back, if he comes back, this is his future. He tells Darby he will always be second best to MJF, and MJF alone. MJF coins a familiar term saying he’s the PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE of professional wrestling. MJF and The Pinnacle go to leave but Sting starts to get to his feet. MJF drops Sting with a right hand and the Dynamite diamond ring.

– Dr. Britt Baker is backstage with Tony and we get the announcement of Britt vs. Tay at Full Gear for the AEW Women’s championship. Britt says all Tay has done since shes got to AEW is show people her ass. Britt says if Tay worked her way to the top Full Gear would’ve been a good match but because she went about it the way she did she’s gonna beat Tay’s ass that she likes to show off.

– We’re about to start the Women’s TBS Title tournament and we see the bracket and Jim Ross explains the BYEs are based on the #2-5 ranked women being given BYEs in the tournament.

TBS Title Tournament
Penelope Ford (16-4) vs. Ruby Soho

Ruby’s way over. Ford starts off dirty throwing her jacket into the face of Ruby. Ford follows up with a couple strikes before lifting Soho to her feet by her hair. Soho reverses and tosses Ford into the ropes. Ford grabs Ruby’s hair once again but Ruby locks in a submission before Ford fights out with a strike to the stomach. Ford tosses Ruby into the corner and stomps away at her until she drops to the mat.

Soho gets to her feet and Penelope hits a front handspring spear. Ford tries to follow up with a boot in the corner but Soho ducks out of the way. Ruby catches Ford with a kick to the midsection and follows with a superkick and a pinfall attempt for a two count. Ruby sends Ford into the corner and follows but is sent over the rope to the apron. Ford goes for a spear but eats a kick to the chest.

Ruby pulls Ford out onto the Apron with her and the Bunny skips her way to ringside. Soho and Ford exchange strikes before The Bunny distracts Soho and Ford kicks Ruby face first into the turnbuckle. Ford poses with the fallen Ruby as we go to commercial.

We come back from commercial as Ruby drops Ford with a backdrop suplex. The Bunny yells at Ford and shoves her to get her back into this one. Both girls back to their feet and exchange strikes. Ford grabs Ruby’s Hair but Ruby counters with a knee strike followed by an enziguri. Ruby hits a sliding elbow drop to the back of Ford’s head. Ruby goes for a cover but only gets a two count.

Soho sends Ford into the corner and chases after but eats a knee, Soho runs at Ford again and eats a kick. Soho goes for a clothesline and Ford bends back to land on her hands. Ruby picks Ford up for a suplex but Ford reverses out. and sends Soho into the ropes Ford hits a cutter and goes for a pinfall but only gets a two, shes stunned and this gives Soho a chance to get a roll up of her own. Ford gets Soho onto her shoulders and drops her onto her knees gut first.

Ford goes for the cover and only gets a two again. Ford is upset and The Bunny slides the brass knuckles into the ring. Rick Knox the GOAT ref sees this and won’t allow any nefarious acts. Soho with a rollup for the pinfall and victory to advance and face Statlander.
Winner: Ruby Soho
Rating: C+.
Review: Not a bad showing from either woman, there were some hiccups and that tends to come often with Ford’s style of wrestling. Call me old school but the cutter/rko as a mid match move is a bit of a waste to me. Glad Soho won as this tournament should highlight AEW’s top women, Ford’s growing but Soho’s a star. 
Post Match: The Bunny and Ford look to attack Ruby but Red Velvet hits the ring to make the save. Excalibur reminds us Red Velvet will face The Bunny in the tournament explaining this save.

– MJF is backstage and has more to say, he starts to cut a promo on Darby but Wardlow cuts him off. Wardlow asks what that was about last week. MJF plays dumb and says what. Wardlow reminds him that MJF sent him into fight Sting alone. MJF says he’s sorry it was fight or flight and wont happen again. He credits Wardlow for doing so well but thinks he’s had to do too much. He assigns Wardlow an AcountAbilABuddy. That will be non other than the Chairman Shawn Spears. Wardlow is confused but MJF walks off before he can complain.

Bobby Fish (1-2) vs. Anthony Greene (0-1)

Greene got a Jobber entrance but at least Schiavone called him a great on the independents. Fish starts off with some forearms and strikes before dropping Greene to the apron with an elbow. Fish lifts Green to his feet and Green fights back dropping Fish with a strike. Greene to the top rope and hits a cross body for a two count but Fish is quick to his feet.

Fish with a kick to the back of Greene’s knee dropping him to the mat. Fish with a senton from the apron onto Greene inside the ring. Fish sends Greene into the corner with a running spear then hits a dragonscrew to pull Greene out of the corner. Fish follows with a sliding lariat and lifts Greene to his feet for a belly to belly suplex. Bobby Fish with a last rights knockout kick that doesn’t connect very well, Fish covers for the victory.
Winner: Bobby Fish in quick fashion
Rating: N/A
Review: This was a solid showcase for Fish. Greene is a really good job guy who could always become something down the line. Gotta love how AEW uses somewhat familiar faces semi consistently. 
Post match: Greene gets to his feet and Fish kicks his leg out from behind him dropping Greene to the mat. Fish taunts the crowd and lays into Greene with some stiff forearms. Excalibur implies the referee can suspend Bobby Fish, seems unlikely. CM Punk hits the ring to break this one apart, no theme and Punk’s regular gear make him hard to make out from the crowd. Looks like we’re getting Fish vs. Punk soon.

– Lio Rush is backstage with Dante Martin and says he’s gotta mentor Dante and show him that anything is possible as long as he has the tools. Rush says things Sydal hasn’t done since meeting him. Dante says Sydal is one of the best of the world. Lio says he gave Sydal a chance to show he’s the best in the world. Lio says he bets Dante can beat Sydal, and he knows he can beat Sydal so he got them a match for next week. Dante says against who? Lio lets him know it’ll be Lio and Dante vs. The Sydal brothers. Dante seems unsure about this but it’s time for our next match.

AEW World Championship Eliminator Tournament
Eddie Kingston (9-3)  vs. Lance Archer (24-4)

Archer makes his entrance but he gets attacked from behind on his way to the ring. Kingston and Archer brawl outside of the ring before this one even starts. Archer grabs a fan out of the crowd of AEW fans and uses him as a weapon throwing him onto the body of Eddie Kingston. Archer takes the fan onto the apron and Chokeslams him off the apron onto Eddie Kingston on the outside of the ring.

Archer meets Eddie on the other side of the ring and chops him before sending him into the ring. Kingston in the corner and eats a running elbow from Archer. Archer follows with two more huge running elbows in the corner. Archer lifts Eddie up and sets him in the corner. Archer rips Eddie’s shirt and begins to chop away. Archer sets Kingston on the top rope and looks for Blackout but Eddie reverses out into a submission but Archer fights back. Kingston fires away at Eddie with shots to the head. Archer drops Kingston to the outside with a baseball slide as we go to break.

We come back from break and Archer has continued to dominate this one. Archer splashes onto Kingston and goes for a cover but only gets a two count. Kingston gets to his feet and slaps Archer but Archer drops Kingston with a slap of his own. Archer puts his knee onto the neck of Eddie Kingston but Bryce forces the break. Archer smushes Kingston’s face in the corner before Bryce forces a break again.

Archer to the top rope and looks for a moonsault but nobodies home. Archer lands directly on his head and TONY NEESE is in the front row for AEW Dynamite. Neese shakes his head. We get a replay and that was a nasty moonsault. Archer rolls to the outside and we get a doctor to ringside to check on Archer. It looks like Archer is good to continue as Archer crawls inside the ring. Kingston gets a roll up and pinfall for the victory.
Winner: Eddie Kingston
Rating: N/A – Injury
Review: Damn these guys were having a bad ass match and it went south quick. I really hope that Archer is still well. That was certainly not the planned finish, pretty crazy we’re getting Danielson vs. Kingston in the near future. 

– Ethan Page is here and reminds us that The Inner Circle sucks. He’s here to tell us why they suck in detail. He says he’s never seen Hager fight in MMA, but he’s seen Scorpio Sky pin him at Grand Slam. He says Santana and Ortiz are hard, they’re from the streets but The Men of the Year run the streets. Page says it’s time for Jericho who isn’t here tonight which is fortunate because now there’s time to get Ethan Page a microphone. Page says last week Jericho just tried to flirt with Paige VanZandt but the only thing he’ll be kissing is Masvidal’s knee.

Ethan Page says he and Sky are the future of this company not the PR nightmare Sammy Guevara. Sammy comes out and says enough Ethan. He borrows a phrase from Jericho and asks Page to please, Shut, The Hell, Up. He says how long is Page gonna cry about how lifes unfair. Guevara gets it sometimes life sucks but he worked his ass off to become TNT champion. Ethan says the reason Page isn’t further is because the only who cares about his work in AEW is himself. Guevara asks Lambert what his stipulations are for their match.

Lambert tells Sammy to lighten up, he’s actually kind of proud of Sammy because they know what he can do in this ring, but what a surprise of how he’s competing in the ring. He says maybe this will end the rumors of Sammy sucking on the stick. Oooh. He asks if Sammy has taken more brain damage from his 630s or his hair spray. Lambert says Sammy has his match at Full Gear, if and only if Sammy comes to Dynamite next week and successfully defends his title against Ethan Page next week. Lambert says if Sammy loses, he doesn’t only lose the title but he’ll leave the INNER CIRCLE FOREVER. Oh gee this again.

Sammy says Lambert has a deal on one condition, if he wins he gets to choose who from American Top Team will be in the ten man tag. Sky says since Guevara is in such an accepting mood maybe he can accept this beat down. Guevara isn’t scared because im sure he has friends around. Sky and Page attack but it only lasts a minute as Hager and Proud n Powerful make the save. Pretty solid promo from some key guys who need to show their stuff in this capacity as well.

– Moxley is in a room, he says he should be yelling and screaming about how he’s supposed to win this tournament. He says that’s not what he’s thinking about, what he’s thinking about is his daughter. He says she grabbed his broken pinky and in that moment it occurred to him that he doesn’t give a crap about any of this. He doesn’t care about the tournament, the title, the ratings, who said what on twitter, he doesn’t care about the demo. He could care less, what he cares about is his family and making it home safe. He says for that to happen other people have to get hurt. He says it’d be easier if he was a mailman but this is what he does. He says this is some everyone goes into a dark alley and only one guy comes out kind of stuff. His message to everyone in this tournament is he’ll get them before they get him and he’s gonna win this whole damn thing.

– The Dark Order are backstage and Hangman Page is back with his pals. He says they were right that they’re not going to always agree. He says if they’re going to face the Elite they’ll need to have a costume. Uno says he’s going to be Bambi. The rest of the Dark Order discuss who they want to be next week.

Jungle Boy (13-3) vs. Brandon Cutler (2-6)

Jungle boy dumps Cutler to the outside almost immediately. He follows with a tope suicida and sends Cutler into the barricade. Jungle Boy tosses Cutler into the ring in the corner. Jungle Boy follows Cutler into the corner and eats a big boot from Cutler. Cutler goes for Panama Sunrise but eats a back body drop.

Cutler and Jungle Boy exchange strikes before Jungle Boy powerbombs Cutler in the center of the ring. Jungle Boy locks in the snare trap and Cutler taps immediately.
Winner: Jungle Boy
Rating: N/A – Too Short
Review: Glad this didn’t go longer than we needed it to. Short sweet and to the point.
Post Match: Jungle Boy has a mic, oh boy that’s exciting. He calls Cutler a nice little warm up. Good try dude. He says he’s feeling pretty good still and ready to go again. He says why don’t one of you elite PIECES OF SHIT come on down right now. He says anyone of you come on. Jungle Boy locks the snare trap back in on Cutler and Cutler begs for help.

– Adam Cole comes out and asks Jungle Boy what the hell is the matter with him. Cole calls Jungle Boy an embarrassment. He says if he wants to fight a member of The Elite so bad he’s here right now. Cole says they should fight right here right now. Adam Cole gets onto the ring apron and Jungle Boy drops him off with a forearm. The Young Bucks sneak in and drop Jungle Boy with a superkick. The Elite jump Jungle Boy up the entrance ramp. They call for the BTE Trigger at the top of the stage. The Bucks lift Jungle Boy up and he eats a knee to the back of the head from Adam Cole. Commentary explains Luchasaurus is out injured. They drag Jungle Boy near the commentary booth and we get the Young Bucks kiss on Jungle Boy, The Young Bucks tell Jim Ross to call the action as they throw Jungle Boy off the stage through a table. Adam Cole stands over his work and yells at him to wake up.

– We are back from break and Miro is talking to his god yet again. He says his wife needs her champion back. Miro says let them make him fight one hundred times and he will snap one hundred necks. He says it’s not because they want it but because he will leave no choice. Miro says he will hold her with blood on his hands and that’s on you.

Malakai Black vs. Cody Rhodes 

Main event time as Cody sprints to the ring and they lock up in the center of the ring. Cody looking for a submission but Black rolls through. Black picks the ankle and brings Cody to the mat both men back to their feet locked up on the ropes. Ref forces a break and we get a side headlock from Cody. Both men back to their feet and they exchange strikes. Black with a combination of strikes, knee kick followed by a sweet of Cody’s feet.

Black goes for a kick to the chest and Cody catches his leg. Black goes for the knee bar but Cody stands up and stomps on the face of Black to a loud boo from the crowd. Cody lifts black to his feet and hits him with a right hand. Cody off the ropes but Black meets him with a back elbow drop. Black locks in a headlock as Cody struggles to his feet. Black with the waist lock but Cody reverses out. Black charges at Cody and eats a powerslam. Cody tosses his belt into the crowd.

Cody looking for a figure four but Black rakes the eyes to break it up. Black to the outside and he’s looking for a weapon. Black pulls out the chair and slides it to the ring. Brock Anderson and Lee Johnson come out to even things up. Cody grabs the chair but Paul turned takes it from his hand. We get Brock Anderson stealing the chair in picture in picture as we go to break.

We’re back from break as Cody hits Black with a Cross Rhodes off the apron through a table on the outside. Black is busted open as Cody lifts him up. Black sends Cody face first into the ring post. Black is looking for the chair as Arn Anderson has decided to get himself in the center of the ring. Cody is now bleeding as well from the post shot. Feels like a bit much quickly but what do I know?

Both men are struggling to get to their feet as we have gone way past double count out territory in this regular singles match. Both men work their way back into the ring as Andrade comes out onto the ring ramp. He points a finger gun at Arn Anderson and his assistant goes to attack Arn. Black with the mist in the face of Arn Anderson. Pac comes out to even the odds with Andrade. Pac and Andrade fight up the ramp back to the backstage area. Cody charges Black in the corner and eats a boot. Black with a stiff elbowstrike. Black with a moonsault but Cody no sells and is back to his feet, Cody hits Cross Rhodes. Cody with the cover and Black kicks out of the Cross Rhodes. Thank goodness.

Cody stomps away at Aleister Black before looking for a suplex. Black reverses out and lands on the apron. Black with a stiff kick to the chest of Cody. Black to the top rope and hits the diving footstomp from the top rope. Black with a pump kick sends Cody into the ropes and bounces back into a german suplex from Malakai Black. Black goes for the cover but Cody kicks out at two. Black in the corner and hits black mass sending cody into the corner rope area.

Cody back to his feet and charges Black in the corner. Black tosses him over the top rope face first onto the apron. Black goes for a moonsault to the outside on Cody but Cody moves and Black lands on his feet. Cody with a tope suicida taking Black out. Cody slides Black back into the ring and hits the Cody Cutter. Cody goes for a cross rhodes, he holds on and hits a double underhook tiger driver 98. Cody goes for the pinfall and finally beats Malakai Black.
Winner: Cody Rhodes
Rating: B-
Review: This had some great moments but obviously felt rushed, they had maybe twleve minutes to get us into the match and had to toss in a commercial as well. It felt like we rushed to the blood and really should’ve saved this match for the PPV so it could’ve had time to build to all of the big moments, instead we went from one to another. Both guys did well, and while I can’t say the wrong guy won it’s weird to see Black lose to Cody already despite not really doing much else in AEW yet.

That’ll close this one out as Cody celebrates with the Nightmare Family and all of his loyal haters can now watch his tv show. Until next time!

8.0
The final score: review Very Good
The 411
This was a great show and the only thing holding me back from rating it a bit better is the finish to Kingston/Archer. It's certainly noones fault but man that match was on it's way to be a second banger of the tournament. Danielson/Dustin was awesome and it's been great to watch Danielson have these great matches and Dustin continues to surprise people like me who doubt. The PPV build has been fantastic and only looks to get better each week. AEW's on a roll right now, which is great considering they're on the way back to Wednesday nights!
legend

article topics :

AEW Dynamite, Andrew Cazer