wrestling / TV Reports
Cazer’s AEW Dynamite Review 10.16.21
Loading...AEW Dynamite
Date: October 16th, 2021
Location: Miami FL
Commentators: Excalibur, JR, Tony Schiavone, and CM Punk
Howdy folks! It’s your boy the resident Impact Wrestling Live reporter Andrew Cazer. I’ll be stepping in to cover AEW Dynamite for the next few weeks due to the pesky Hockey season getting under way and preempting Dynamite. The NHL is cool and of course it’s always GO PENGUINS! But it’s worth noting that AEW Dynamite did a better number in recent weeks than the debut of The NHL on TNT but that’s neither here nor there.
Last night Tony Khan’s prized wrestling company went head to head with the last hour and a half of Smackdown if you count the Buy In pre-show. Which you shouldn’t but you should check out Danielson vs. Suzuki because boy was that fun. Rumor has it The Fed picked up the ratings win last night but who cares that’s for the networks Am I right!?
Despite the ratings miss, or success depending on who you are and how you look at it, we’ve got a stacked episode of Saturday Night Dynamite. Andrade El Idolo’s got a surprise masked tag team set to challenge the Lucha Brothers for the AAA Tag Team Championships. Andrade and PAC have been testing each other and the Lucha Brothers have certainly had something to do with that. After the Lucha Brothers refused to join up with Andrade, he’s brought along his own team to take care of the AEW Tag Team Division.
Dante Martin will get a match with Malakai Black after issuing and open challenge to anyone on the roster. This could certainly be a case of be careful what you wish for but I think the AEW audience is gonna love this one. The Dark Order will also challenge the SuperKliq in six man tag action after issuing a challenge to the SuperKliq following their excitement over Hangman’s return. It’ll be interesting to see how the team of Reynolds, Uno and Silver will fare against The Young Bucks and Adam Cole.
We will hear from Hangman Page following his exciting return and Casino Ladder Match win last week. What could the number one contender have to say ahead of his championship match next month at Full Gear? On top of all that Kiera Hogan will face Penelope Ford, Jon Moxley will take on Wheeler Yuta, Bryan Danielson will face Bobby Fish and I’m sure much more!
Without further ado, it’s Saturday Night and you know what that means!
* We get the usual Dynamite entrance and Intro from Jim Ross and CM Punk runs out the face tunnel and teases a stage dive before giving his hat away to a kid in the front row. He slaps some hands and makes his way to the commentary booth, love me some Punk commentary.
Dante Martin vs. Malakai Black
– We’re wasting no time getting to the excitement this week. Malakai is undefeated and Dante is a rising star in his own right. Malakai’s entrance is relatively simple but such an incredible tone setter. Dante is joined by Lio Rush who recently promoted his services to the young high flyer. Black goes right after Dante and we get a lockup to kick things off. Malakai takes Dante to the ground and goes for a german suplex but Dante lands on his feet hits Black with a side headlock.
Black hits Martin with a deep armdrag and holds on as Martin tries to regain position but Black takes him back to his knees with the shoulder lock. Dante with a backflip off the ropes to reverse out and drops Black with a dropkick sending him outside. Dante off the ropes but Black slides in and catches him. Black drops Dante with a huge reverse elbow and takes a moment to regain himself. Black into the corner but Dante moves, Dante springboard but Black counters into a powerbomb and follows up with a boston crab immediately after. Lio Rush coaches Dante to the rope and this forces a break.
Black with a stiff kick to the back of Dante’s thigh as he’s trying to get back to his feet. Black grabs Martin’s left leg but Martin strikes Black breaking the hold. Black continues to attack the knee and locks in a knee bar. Dante fights out kicking Black in the face forcing the break. Dante rolls out to the apron and Black goes to grab him but Martin fights back with strikes he jumps to the top for a springboard but Black catches his leg and Dante rolls through for a pinfall attempt but Black kicks out at two. Both men in the corner and Martin drops Black with a huge reverse hurricanrana. Both men down and we get a ten count but Martin to his feet. springboards onto Black outside of the ring on the ramp.
Dante Martin tosses Black back into follows him with a double springboard moonsault but Black moves out of the way. The two exchange strikes Black with a huge kick goes for a german but Martin reverses out with an enziguri. Black to the top rop and hits the meterora on Martin. Black follows with a huge german suplex with a bridging pin attempt. Dante Martin kicks out at two to a standing ovation.
Black argues with Bryce and lifts Martin to his feet pulling him to the corner. Black pulls Martin to the top looking for a suplex to the outside. Martin fights out with forearms to the back, the two exchange strikes on the top rope and Dante hits a super huricanrana! Dante’s selling the knee so he cannot make the cover. Dante on the apron and goes for the double springboard moonsault and connects the second time. Not perfect but still pretty. Dante finally is able to make the cover but Black is able to kick out at two.
Black rolls over into the single leg boston crab but is having some rib issues and is forced to break the hold. Black back to his feet and pulls Dante to his feet. Dante on the apron springboards with just one leg and Black moves just in time. Dante lands on his feet but eats the Black Mass as Black stands tall for a second before going for the cover. Black with the victory.
Winner: Malakai Black
Review: B. Great opener and they continue to make Dante Martin look like a superstar in defeat. This was probably my favorite Malakai Black match so far. They told a good story with both guys selling injuries and even if there were a few spots that didn’t hit perfect it was a fun match!
Post match: Black turns and stares Dante Martin down showing a bit of respect for his opponent.Â
* Schiavone is backstage with Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus. Jungle Boy says that the entire Express is hurting at the moment and says he’s shocked Luchasaurus can still walk after the devastating (botched) powerbomb last week. The Super Elite aren’t taking this lightly and attack Jungle Boy before making good on their triple powerbomb from last week this time throwing Luchasaurus through a table.
* The Inner Circle reunion is under way and the crowd is on point this week hitting every note for Jericho’s entrance. Santana shows some love to the Miami crowd, he says its time to get to the nitty gritty real quick. He says while he and Ortiz have been handling business the last few weeks his boys have been dealing with the American Top Team. Santana can’t say much before American Top Team cut him off.
Dan Lambert comes out screaming at the crowd saying they deserve a parade for all the titles American Top Team has brought to Florida. Jericho says please welcome Dan Lambert the fat faced Dipshit. Jericho says he has a question for Paige Van Zandt, he says maybe she has an obsession with Le Champion. He asks if she’s gonna try to slide into his DMs. He takes a shot at her husband before calling her a bimbo among other b words. He says the jokes are over, The Inner Circle has reunited. He says the numbers game won’t work anymore, Jericho says they want a ten man tag, The Inner Circle vs. American Top Team because noon is crazier than The Inner F’n Circle.
Lambert says if it was up to him they’d do that and collect some easy checks but the men of the year have their sites set on championship gold. He runs down the rest of the Inner Circle and says Sammy is the only one with a title so he’s the only one who can get them a tag match. He says he has some demands for Sammy if Jericho wants a ten man tag but they gotta wait till next week for that. Scorpio Sky grabs the mic and reminds Jericho he has beat him not once, but twice. Sammy says he doesn’t care if it’s one of them or all of them he’ll beat all their asses if he has to. Oooh Sammy vs. Scorpio in the future, or maybe Sammy vs. Masvidal, ok probably not but a boy can dream.
The Super Frogs vs. The Lucha Brothers (c)
AAA Tag Team Championships
Punk is confused about the Super Frogs and so am I but I’m here for it. Apparently he’s never heard of the legendary matches between the Super Frogs and the Super Flies, oh well his loss. We start off with some quick action and Punk implies this is FTR but i’m not convinced. Super Frog One offers a hand and we get a test of strength. Frog one brings Fenix to his feet but he reverses out. We get some more chain wrestling before Frog one tries to rip off Fenix’ mask.
Fenix and Pentagon are now looking to remove the masks of The Super Frogs. Commentary has to confirm this is not AAA rules as Excalibur tried to imply earlier when they tried to remove Fenix’ mask. Fenix and Penta remove the masks and we see none other than Dax and Cash as we got to commercial!
We come back and FTR hang up Fenix on the top rope sending him out onto the ramp. Penta gets tossed as well but fights back dropping both members of FTR. Penta calls for Fenix and he hops off Penta’s back onto the rope and drops FTR with a double drop kick. Fenix locks both member of FTR in a submission and we get the big kick to the midsection from Penta on the top rope.
Penta tosses Wheeler into the ropes but he reverses, Harwood grabs the foot and Wheeler runs at Penta but gets dumped to the outside on Harwood. Penta and Fenix both dive onto FTR outside the ring. Penta lifts Harwood up and Fenix on the apron but Wheeler grabs Penta’s foot. Penta to the outside and Wheeler goes for a championship shot to the head. Penta ducks the title shot and hits Wheeler with a superkick. Wheeler dumps Penta into the time keepers area. He then goes to hit Fenix with the betl but misses. Harwood rolls up Fenix and has the tights and the ropes but still can’t get the pin. Fenix to his feet and drops Harwood with a back kick and Tully makes his way to the ring. Fenix from the top ropes with a moonsault but runs right into a title shot from Harwood. Harwood lifts Fenix up and drops him with a brainbuster, Harwood for the cover and picks up the victory stealing the Triple A Tag Team championship.
Winners: FTR (Not the Super Frogs) to become new AAA Tag Team Champions
Review: B. This is only getting a B because I know these two teams can deliver a five star match and likely will soon. This was a great set up to that even though commentary was clearly a bit confused with what was supposed to occur here. Felt like Punk gave away FTR too early and then they weren’t planning on the mask reveal at all with Excalibur calling it Triple A rules, but overall this was sweet and that finish was nuts.
* Dante Martin is backstage with Tony Schiavone who asks him about his match, Dante says he’s still alive but Lio cuts him off and says he’d be a winner if he listened to him. Lio suggest that the duo become tag team partners in the future as Dante seems a bit surprised by the suggestion.
* FTR is backstage as Schiavone tries to get an interview with the new AAA Tag Team Champions but MJF interrupts to congratulate his boys. MJF discusses money with Andrade and Andrade hands him two envelopes for their assistance. Curious to see how all of that plays out.
Wheeler Yuta vs. Jon Moxley
Wheeler with the benefit of coming out to Orange Cassidy’s licensed theme song. Mox is heated and drops Yuta with a huge clothesline immediately. Moxley has Wheeler on the ropes and nails him with a number of forearms to the face before dropping him with a suplex. Punk references Mox’s battle wounds from GCW. Mox lays into Yuta with a number of lefts and rights. Paradigm shift and this ones over QUICK.
Winner: Jon Moxley
Review: N/A. Too Short for a rating but that was a fun beat down. Mox seems to have a bit of a new attitude about him which is cool.
Post Match: Orange Cassidy slowly shows some concern for Yuta and checks on his protégé.
* Schiavone is backstage with Sereena Deeb and asks her about her shift in attitude. Deeb says it wasn’t long ago she had to drag this division to her level. She said she watched this division have too much fun while she was gone. Hikaru Shida cuts off the interview and beats down Deeb ending the interview early. Punk with the cute line about Deeb having a fantastic head of hair.
The SuperKliq vs. The Dark Order (Alex Reynolds, Jon Silver, Evil Uno)
Silver is 15-4, what a stud. The Dark Order try to get their pose in but The SuperKliq waste no time beating them up from behind. They focus on Silver tossing him onto the ramp outside the ring. The Bucks lift Silver up and go for the powerbomb to Silver but he reverses out of it dropping Cole. They toss Nick Jackson into the ring and this is finally under way. The Dark Order take turns hitting Jackson with a flurry of clotheslines in the corner.
Finally each team goes to their separate corners and we get this under way. Silver tosses Nick and follows it with a big pose. Silver lays into Nick with some stiff rights sending him into the corner. Silver with an uppercut and tosses him into the ropes but Nick reverses tossing Silver into the ropes and he eats an illegal knee for Adam Cole. Silver drops Cole with a kick then Nick with a pump kick. Tosses Nick into the ropes and Nick stops himself. Silver follows and is tosses to the apron.
Silver goes crazy on everyone but eats a superkick from Matt Jackson on the outside. Uno comes to even things up but eats a kick Reyolds runs and eats one as well. Cole lifts Reyonds up and we get a double superkick and suplex onto Cole’s knee. The SuperKliq celebrate in the ring for a moment before taking things back outside. Nick Jackson tosses Silver in the ring and we’re finally back to a conventional match. Nick Jackson tags in Matt and they toss Silver into the ropes and drop him with a nifty combo drop kick. Matt taunts Uno before going for a cover on Silver. Silver kicks out relatively easy.
Matt Jackson goes for the tag and Cole puts his boot up on the corner turnbuckle. The slam Silver into it and continue their assault before Silver fights out but is caught up by the numbers yet again. Cole with a swinging neckbreaker to Silver and tags in Nick Jackson. Nick Jackson to the top rop with a double axe handle as we go to break.
We are back and The Elite are still in control. The Bucks go for a double suplex but Silver reverses and suplexes both men on his own. Silver tags in Evil Uno and Uno drops both Bucks with a double clothesline but Adam Cole is in. Cole goes for a kick and Uno catches it. Uno hands the foot to the ref and hits Cole with a neckbreaker. He removes Nick Jackson’s shoe and goes for the same move on Nick but is unable. Uno takes off the sock from Nick Jackson puts it on his hand and sticks it right in Nick’s mouth ala Mick Foley.
Cole makes the save before Nick can make a tag. Cole locks Uno in the camel clutch and the bucks off the ropes go for their patented tag team maneuver but The Dark Order pulls them out. Reynolds and Silver take their place and land some nice smooches on Coles face before tossing him to the outside on the Young Bucks. The Dark order celebrates their success before Uno tags in Reynolds. They Toss Cole into the ring and send him in the corner. We get some more triple tag team action with The Dark Order running wild. Reynolds with a cover but the Bucks break it up.
Silver and Uno in the ring to even the odds they toss the Bucks into the ropes and chase but get dumped to the outside. Matt Jackson dropkicks Silver before Nick dives to the outside on both. Cole and Reynolds in the ring and both men go for a pump Kick. Reynolds goes for a roll up and follows with a knee to the face. The Bucks are in the ring and Cole tosses Reynolds into both men for a double super kick. Adam Cole with the Panama Sunrise followed by the double knees from the Bucks. Cole with a knee to the back of Reynolds head and follows with a pin for the victory.
Winners: The SuperKliq
Review: C+. Listen, this was sound for what it was, but I’m not big on the ignore all the rules and let the Bucks run wild ALL the time. I enjoy the PWG Style if you will from time to time, but could live without them doing it every time they have a six man+ match.Â
Post Match: Jungle Boy hits the ring and has his eyes set on Cole particularly before The Bucks dump him to the outside. Jungle Boy grabs a chair to even the odds and the Elite leave Cutler by himself. Jungle Boy drops Cutler with a few chair shots before celebrating with the crowd who all seem to love JB.
* Cody’s back at the nightmare factory and all of his students or friends are mad at him. Red Velvet slaps him and Arn sets him up with a skills challenge. Cody goes through it as Arn and Dustin coach him up. Cody gets slapped from KiLynn King and Cody is pissed, he says he’s not learning a thing. Arn says that Cody will never do anything to let the kids down. We get a nice little Arn Anderson pep talk to try and get Cody back in the right mindset. Lee Johnson tries to hug Cody and gets elbowed in the face.
* MJF is here and says it’s bad enough he’s in a place that reeks of hookers and gasoline. He runs down Justin Roberts for not announcing him for his match with Darby. MJF says that’s fine he can do his introduction himself before giving himself a GOAT level introduction. Schiavone says there will be no match here and Punk says you know it’s not a match because Darby isn’t here. MJF says that he doesn’t think Darby is here, he said he set this match and Darby no showed. He says Darby was wrong MJF did break him mentally. The crowd chants at MJF and he just runs them all down.
MJF says he had no idea that Darby was attacked last week. He says he feels horrible but to be honest it’s pretty unprofessional for Darby not to show up. Schiavone reminds us there is NO match. MJF says Darby will always be the Number TWO guy around her. He says just like Miami Darby will always be M-M-M-MID. He says he cares about them so much and they wanted to see MJF against Darby Allin so he’s going to give it to them. MJF calls Wardlow out and Wardlow has Bryce by the arm.
MJF thanks Wardlow for making himself useful and tells Bryce to start counting Darby out so MJF can be considered the winner. Schiavone says this isn’t sanctioned and says it’s one of the worst things he’s ever been a part of it, which is funny he must’ve forgotten his WCW days or something. Bryce gets to counting but of course the lights go out and Darby isn’t here but Sting is. MJF shoves Wardlow in front of him and runs away as Sting drops Wardlow with a huge bat shot to the mid section. MJF threatens to get in the ring but spares Sting’s life for tonight at least.
* Tony Schiavone is backstage with Anna Jay and says The Dark Order had a rough night but she’s quickly interrupted by Britt Baker who says The Dark Order just got beat by The most elite faction in wrestling The Superkliq BayBay and they’re a bunch of losers. Anna Jay says they’re not losers but Britt lets her know they literally just lost and she’s a loser for being with them. Britt says she’s also sadly a follower without them and Tay Conti. Britt tells her to have fun with her loser friends as Anna Jay hits her with a stiff right.
Kiera Hogan vs. Penelope Ford
They lock up and Penelope forces Hogan into the corner. Punk asks if she’s related to the Hulkster and Jim Ross lets us know she’s not. Penelope with an armdrag into a shoulder lock. Hogan fights out with strikes to the midsection and tosses Penelope into the corner. Hogan follows with a clothesline and pulls Penelope out. Penelope with a right hand to Kiera and tosses her in the corner. Penelope goes for a big boot but Kiera ducks and Penelope gets stuck.
Kiera drops her with a neckbreaker and follows with a pinfall attempt but Penelope kicks out at two. Penelope back in control and hits a bulldog into the turnbuckle in the corner. Ford then tosses Hogan neck first into the middle rope as we go to commercial. As my good friend Mat might say, did this match really need a commercial?
We are back and Ford is up top, Hogan cuts her off and goes for a superplex. Both women to the top and Kiera connects! Both women back to their feet and exchange strikes, Kiera gains the advantage and ducks a clothesline and drops Ford with one of her own. Hogan follows with an back elbow dropping Ford. Ford in the corner and Hogan hits a nice sliding drop kick in the corner. Hogan follows with a pinfall attempt but Ford kicks out at two.
Ford catches Hogan with a surprise stunner. Ford has Hogan up but she reverses out and hits Ford with a unique neckbreaker. Ford regains control and hits Hogan with a backspring cutter. Ford then locks in a submission and picks up the victory.
Winner: Penelope FordÂ
Review: C. This wasn’t bad, but wasn’t great. Ford is growing on me but I would’ve loved to see a Kiera Hogan victory here. The woman’s division needs more of this though especially as we introduce the TBS Championship.
Post Match: Ruby Soho hits the ring and drops Penelope from behind and continues her assault tossing Penelope to the ramp. The Bunny comes out and Soho calls to fight both of them but they’re not interested and head to the back.
* We get a Miro promo and he asks his God why is he doing this to him. He asks why he has forsaken his champion. He says he’s telling his god to make him a champion or make him an enemy. Looks like we might be getting Miro vs. God, Miro better be careful, God’s undefeated in wrestling.
* Schiavone is here and introduces Hangman Page. His lower third says he’s a frequent question dodger, so it’s safe to say we might not get many answers here. Schiavone says this is Hangman’s chance to finally become champion, Hangman says he’s excited for Full Gear. He says in 2019 he and his friends left his home to start All Elite Wrestling. He says he was excited then because he believed they would change the world. Unfortunately the world changed them, or at least it changed him. He says he told the fans he would become the first champion and he failed. He reminds us of all of his losses, he lost his confidence, he lost his friends and truthfully he lost himself(not his smile).
He says the only thing that grew week after week was the crowd chanting ‘Cowboy Shit’. He said Cowboy Shit was taking a chance on himself, winning the tag team championships, letting the past be the past and allow new friends into his life. He said it was Cowboy Shit to have the balls to go home and be with his beautiful baby during the middle of his hottest run ever. True words. He says last week he called TK and called to come back because it’s cowboy shit to get back on the saddle and keep riding. He says he’s not a fortune teller, he can’t predict how Full Gear will end for him but despite that everyone continues to believe in him. He says for the first time in his life, he does too. Hangman promises to give the fans everything he has at Full Gear from blood, sweat and tears, he guarantees to give the fans Cowboy Shit!
* We run down next week’s AEW Rampage including Pac vs. Andrade 2 as well as the first World Title Eliminator Tournament match. They then run down next week’s Dynamite which will feature two world title eliminator matches and Malakai Black vs. Cody 3.
Bobby Fish vs. Bryan Danielson
Lockup to start and neither Fish takes control early with a knee to the gut followed by a combination of strikes. Fish with the headlock and Bryan sends him off into the ropes but Fish returns with a shoulder block dropping Bryan to the ground. Fish with the snapmare followed by the kick to the back. Fish with a cover and forearm to the face but Danielson kicks out at two.
Danielson in control and goes for a modified surfboard stretch before stomping on the back of Fish’s legs. Fish backs Danielson into the corner and the ref forces a break before Fish kicks Danielson in the gut with a back kick. Fish drops Danielson in another corner and follows with a kick right to the face. Danielson to his feet and eats a forearm from Fish. Fish tosses Danielson into the corner but Danielson with a backflip over the top of Fish. Danielson off the ropes but eats a huge Kick from Fish.
Fish to the outside and Danielson nails him with a beautiful tope suicida. Danielson goes to lift Fish back into the ring but Fish drops an elbow across the face of Fish. Danielson tosses Fish into the ring post and goes to follow it with a penalty kick but Fish drops him with a kick to the ankles as we go to our final commercial of the evening.
We’re back and Fish is still in control he has Danielson’s leg locked up in the ropes and follows with a number of kicks to the leg as Bryan tries to fight back but Fish regains control and drops Danielson with strikes of his own. Fish lays off for a moment and allows Danielson to get to his feet before dropping him with another stiff kick to the leg. Fish drops Danielson with a sliding lariat and follows it with a pinfall attempt for two. Fish locks in the half crab looking for a submission but Danielson fights out locking in an ankle lock of his own.
Fish gets the ropes but Danielson pulls him back to the center. Danielson captures Fish leg and hits him with a beautiful release german suplex. Both men to their feet and Danielson starts laying in his patented kicks but Fish reverses and fights back with some strikes of his own. Danielson with a pair of dragonscrews to Bobby Fish. Danielson slams Fish’ leg right into the ring post not once, not twice but three times. Danielson slides into the ring lets Fish get to his feet before dropping him with a chopblock. Danielson sizes Fish up and goes for a kick but Fish nails Danielson with a backdrop driver. Fish goes for the cover but Danielson kicks out at two.
Fish and Danielson on the top rope exchanging strikes. Fish nails a HUGE avalanche falcon arrow. Fish goes for the cover and Danielson kicks out at two before Fish rolls it right into a knee bar. Danielson rolls over and locks in a kneebar of his own. Both men exchange kicks to the face neither giving an inch. Danielson takes advantage nails Fish with a number of knees before locking in a nasty heel hook of his own. Danielson forces Bobby Fish to tap and this ones over!
Winner: Bryan Danielson
Review: B. This was fun, and both of these guys delivered a solid match in the main event. It wasn’t anything too incredible, as you can imagine these two could really have a stellar match given the right story and time, but in this position they did a great job. As someone who doesn’t love Bobby Fish, this made me understand the signing and I hope to see him do well going forward.Â
* We quickly reveal the brackets as I think they were a bit short on time. There are some really awesome names in this one and it looks to be another great eliminator tournament!
