Csonka’s AEW Dynamite Review 2.26.20

Csonka’s AEW Dynamite Review 2.26.20

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– 30 Minute Iron Man Match: Kenny Omega defeated Pac @ 31:00 via pin [2-1] [****½]
– Jurassic Express defeated The Inner Circle @ 10:00 via pin [***½]
– Best Friends defeated Butcher &The Blade @ 8:10 via pin [***]
– Hikaru Shida defeated Big Swole, Shanna, & Yuka Sakazaki @ 9:30 via pin [***]

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30 Minute Iron Man Match: Pac vs. Kenny Omega: The Bucks are at ringside like in the NJPW days for Kenny’s big matches, interesting with the tag title match coming up Saturday; no Page They lockup and work to the ropes for the clean break. They work into a test of strength and Pac works into counters and we get a standoff. They trade strikes and chops as they work into more counters. Pac counters one winged angel into the brutalizer, but Kenny makes the ropes. RANA by Kenny and follows with the tope con hello. Back in and the Kotaru crusher follows for 2. Kenny follows with chops, strikes and you can’t escape misses on the moonsault. Kenny counters back into a snapdragon, but Pac powders. They brawl on the floor, trading strikes and Kenny catches the moonsault but Pac counters into a DDT. Back in and Pac follows with strikes, Kenny sends him to the buckles and they work up top as Kenny knocks him to the mat. Pac back up and follows with the avalanche brainbuster. Pac heads up top, follows with the missile dropkick and covers for 2. He grounds things. Kenny fights to his feet and follows with strikes but Pac cuts him off with the slingshot cutter and that gets 2. Pac follows with kicks, knee drops and chokes him out in the ropes. He delivers chops, kicks and Kenny hits the push kick to the buckles. They trade, lighting each other up and throwing bombs until Pac hits the snap German. Knee strike by Kenny and the tiger driver 98 follows for 2. The one winged angel is countered until Kenny hits the German for 2. Kenny follows with V trigger and climbs the ropes for the one winged angel but Pac counters into the sunset bomb. They work back up and Kenny slips out, hits snapdragon and another for 2! Pac slips to the floor, Kenny follows and Pac hits him with a chair shot for a DQ, 1-0 Kenny @ 16:00 in AEW’s first DQ. Pac follows with a running kick, black arrow and evens things up at 1-1 @ 17:15. Kenny rolls to the floor, Pac whips him to the barricades and back in, Pac follows with kicks. Kenny fires back, Pac shakes him off and delivers kicks and dumps Kenny to the apron. He follows and Kenny fires back as they trade. Pac then does the deal with the falcon arrow to the floor. Pac rolls in and then dropkicks Kenny into the doctor and refs. The Bucks check on him and Pac pulls out a table. He sets it up and lays Kenny on it. Pac heads up top and the shooting star press puts Kenny through the table; he’s dead, Jim. Both men are down, the ref is finally back in and starts the count as Pac makes it back in as does Kenny, just barely with help from the Bucks. Pac sets him up, heads up top and black arrow eats knees. Kenny pulls himself to his feet, hits V trigger and another. The uranage follows for 2. Kenny fires up and V trigger follows and the one winged angel is countered into a poison RANA. The DDT follows and he locks on the brutalizer. Kenny fights, working for the ropes until Pac rolls him and maintains control. Kenny finally makes the ropes, Pac breaks after a while and locks it on again, Kenny fights it off and elbows out as we enter the final minute. Pac finally gets it on as Kenny cradles him for 2. Pac maintains control, 30-seconds and Kenny escapes until Pac locks it back on. Kenny fights and time expires as they are locked at 1-1. Pac takes out the ref and it is announced that the match will continue under sudden death rules. V trigger, another and the kamigoye connects and he covers for 2! The one winged angel now connects and Kenny wins. Kenny Omega defeated Pac @ 31:00 via pin [2-1] [****½] This match was absolutely excellent, they made excellent use of the time given to them, it never really slowed, the action was tremendous and it was a fitting end to their feud as Kenny finally ends his issues with Pac. The crowd was into it the entire time, they added a ton to it and the drama was well executed. They did a great job of playing off their prior matches, the action was compelling and this could have been a PPV main event with ease. They can also revisit this because Pac can point out that Matt saved Kenny from a countout.

– Tony interviews Pac and Pac wants no part of Tony trying to take the piss out of him. Orange Cassidy arrives and Pac lays him out.

– They hype revolution on Saturday.

– Lexi tries to interview Jericho, but Hager arrives and just stands there before closing the door.

The Inner Circle (Santana, Ortiz, & Sammy Guevara) vs. Jurassic Express: It breaks down right away as Jurassic Express run wild, Jungle Boy hits a dive. Another and but they cut off Stunt and toss him into Jungle boy. Luchasaurus is dumped and Stunt follows with a RANA, but is cut off with a double stomp/powerslam combo. Post break and the Inner Circle has Stunt isolated and work triple teams as Jungle Boy makes the save. He’s dumped and Sammy slaps him around. Stunt fires back. and rolls into the tag. Luchasaurus is in and runs wild with kicks, chops and the fossilizer. The chokeslam and standing moonsault follows, Sammy attacks and the Express follow with triple teams and the RANA to Ortiz follows. Luchasaurus covers as Santana makes the save. It breaks down. superkick by Jungle Boy and he’s cut off with double teams. Sammy follows with the running shooting star press for 2. Luchasaurus hits an apron moonsault to the floor, and Sammy gets the mad ball, Darby arrives and takes it from him and Jungle Boy hits the RANA into the cradle for the win. Jurassic Express defeated The Inner Circle @ 10:00 via pin [***½] This was a really good and tremendously fun all action sprint and while the finish isn’t my favorite, it advanced Darby vs. Sammy.

– We get an MJF vs. Cody a great video package.

The Butcher & The Blade vs. Best Friends: Orange is roughed up but at ringside, as is the Bunny. Butcher and Blade take control right away, dumping Chuck and isolating Trent. They follow with double teams and Blade takes over. He follows with chops. Trent fires back and they trade chops until Blade follows with the shoulder tackle. He dumps him off the ropes, Trent hits a desperation knee strike, Chuck in and double teams follow as they clear the ring. Butcher pulls Trent to the floor. as Blade attacks Chuck. Butcher then choke shim out in the ropes, follows with chops and Blade joins in for double teams. He chokes out Chuck in the ropes and Butcher tags in and lays the boots to him. He maintains the heat, working over Chuck in the corner and they trade as Chuck tries to for up. Butcher cuts him off and follows with the shoulder tackle. Blade tags in and delivers chops. Chuck fights of the double teams, dumps Butcher and tags in Trent. He follows with the DDT. But Blade counters the plancha until Trent fires back with a spear. Orange & Bunny in the ring, Bunny steals him sun glasses and Orange blocks the low blow, takes the bunny ears and Orange follows with the dive. Strong Zero finishes it. Best Friends defeated Butcher &The Blade @ 8:10 via pin [***] This was a good and fun change of pace tag match.

– Tony announces Pac vs. Orange Cassidy for the PPV on Saturday. Chuck and Trent joke that Orange may actually try at the PPV. Thumbs up by Orange.

Big Swole vs. Shanna vs. Hikaru Shida vs. Yuka Sakazaki: They get right to action as Shida cradles Swole for 2. Shanna RANAs them both and they all attack Yuka. Shanna, Shida & Swole work into a test of strength until Yuka breaks it up. She runs wild with dropkicks. Swole mows her down and gets dumped. They all trade pin attempts and Yuka is dumped as is Shida. Shanna dumps Swole and Shida cuts her off with a knee strike. To the floor and Shida is cut of by Swole. Shanna follows with the suicide dive and Yuka also follows with a dive. Back in and Yuka follows with kick on Shanna, the sliding clothesline and covers for 2. She heads up top, and works a hanging head scissors on Shanna. Yuka follows with strikes. Shanna cuts her off and Shida takes her out as she works over Yuka in the corner. Shida suplexes Shanna into Yuka. Swole back in, it breaks down and Swole follows with an enziguri, a slingshot cutter and that gets 2. Shida up top and follows with the missile dropkick and Yuka makes the save and covers for 2. Shanna heads up top, Shida follows her up as Yuka joins in. Shanna counters and follows with double stomps to both. Swole hits dirty dancing on Shanna, Shida follows with the back breaker and knee strike as Yuka flies in with the splash for 2. Shida then slams Yuka on Swole and covers for 2. Knee strike by Shida and that’s all. Hikaru Shida defeated Big Swole, Shanna, & Yuka Sakazaki @ 9:30 via pin [***] This was good and they made great use of their time. I though after last week that Swole was taking this, but they all got some time to shine and Shida picked up the big win.

– Dark Order announces the are facing Sky & Kazarian at Revolution and that Daniels will become… obsolete.

– Jim Ross interviewed the Bucks, Kenny & Page earlier today. They talk about the growth of AEW and Matt was surprised that Kenny & Page won the championships, They thought it’d be them but they are proud of their friends. Kenny says they won the titles as they were in the right place at the right time, and they turned into a top tier tag team. Page drinks and is annoyed, as JR asks him why he’s uncomfortable. Nick says they acre about page as they question why he has to drink during the interview. Matt says Kenny & Page know everything about them and they love them. They are competitors and are coming for the championships. They have been called the best, and have lost sleep over not being champions. They will still be the Elite following the match. Page says he wanted out and Matt & Nick are insulted as they made him a star, calling him a jobber in ROH before they brought him into Bullet Club. page gets pissed and leaves. These JR interview segments continue to deliver and I hope they keep doing more of them.

Frame perfect @theAdamPage. #AEWDynamite #AEWonTNT pic.twitter.com/GXl6zNMSOF

— TDE Wrestling (@tde_wrestling) February 27, 2020

– NEXT WEEK: Lance Archer debuts.

The Jericho vs. Moxley Weigh-In: The Inner Circle has on track suits and accompany Jericho to the weigh-in doing the Gracie train, as Gary Michael Cappetta arrives to MC the segment. I really like using the ‘weigh-in” as opposed to the usual contract signing. Jericho stalls and mocks GMC, joking that he’s why WCW went out of business, Jericho says he always goes last so Mox weighs in at 234 pounds. After stalling. Jericho talks shit and tells KC to shut it’s ass and calls the place a piece of shit. Mox attacks and busts open Jericho as the Inner Circle attacks Mox. Dustin Rhodes arrives and attacks Hager, they brawl into the crowd and the rest beat down Mox. Hager & Dustin brawl into the concession area. Hager low blows him and slams Dustin to the wall. DIPPPIN DOTS! Darby arrives and Sammy cuts him off, lays him out with the skateboard and that leads to Mox & Jericho brawling until Ortiz low blows Mox and Jericho lays him out with the Judas effect. Jericho follows with dirty deeds onto the scale and the Inner Circle stands tall.

The 411 on Wrestling Podcast returns to the 411 Podcasting Network for episode 93. On the show, Ian Hamilton joins Larry Csonka for a long-form discussion on NXT UK, Mark Radulich helps preview WWE Super Showdown, & Steve Cook joins for a retro TNA Lockdown 2009 review. The show is approximately 181-minutes long.

* Intro
* NXT UK: The Birth, Lack of Growth, & Issues With The Brand: 3:10
* WWE Super Showdown Preview: 1:26:06
* Retro TNA Lockdown 2009 Review: 2:19:10

* iTunes
* Spotify
* Stitcher
* Google Play

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

9.0

The final score: review Amazing

The 411

The last two weeks of AEW Dynamite have been great & focused TV, but I think that this week’s was even better. This was a PPV go home show that felt like a big time PPV go home show, with a PPV quality Iron Man match. more matches set for the PPV, more quality build to the big matches and the feeling that AEW is peaking at the right time. I loved this show, it was an insanely fast two-hours that felt as if it ended before it really got going and got me beyond hyped for Saturday’s PPV event.