Csonka’s AEW Dynamite Review 4.22.20

Csonka’s AEW Dynamite Review 4.22.20

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– TNT Championship Tournament Quarterfinal Match: Darby Allin defeated Sammy Guevara @ 11:00 via pin [***¼]
– Kenny Omega defeated Alan Angels @ 6:25 via pin [**¾]
– Orange Cassidy defeated Jimmy Havoc @ 9:25 via pin [**¾]
– The Wardlow defeated Lee Johnson @ 2:35 via pin [NR]
– Brodie Lee defeated Justin Law @ 2:00 via pin [NR]
– TNT Championship Tournament Quarterfinal Match: Dustin Rhodes defeated Kip Sabian @ 14:20 via pin [***]

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– We open with a Cody video package, breaking down the TNT title tournament participants, looking at his desire to win the title, is he the thee star general of the mid-card, breaking the throne because he was afraid to sit in it, or is he ready to answer the call of 32-years of history on the Turner Networks. Complacency is a dirty word in wrestling, but an ally of top guys collecting checks. None of these participants are that, there is will and desire here, but who has enough to win.

– Tony & Jericho again are on commentary.

– We get Sammy & Darby video packages prior to our opening match.

TNT Championship Tournament Quarterfinal Match: Sammy Guevara vs. Darby Allin: Sammy attacks with a dive and works over Darby on the floor in shades of their PPV match, starting on the floor. Sammy breaks out a ladder and makes a bridge at ringside. He lays Darby on it and heads up top, and follows with a splash onto Darby. Post break and the match begins as Sammy covers for 2. Both guys are bang up here, but Sammy controls with body shots. He follows with chops, they work up top and Darby counters and starts ripping off Sammy’s boot. He targets the ankle, Sammy fires back with an enziguri and follows with a springboard cutter for 2. Darby heel hooks him, working the ankle lock and Darby is bleeding from the nose as Sammy fights. They slug it out and trade big strikes until Sammy hits the spinning back fist and kick for 2. Darby spills to the floor. Post break and Sammy misses a plancha, as Darby then eats the barricade on a missed suicide dive. Sammy rolls him back in and heads up top. The 630 follows for 2 as Darby makes the ropes. Sammy follows with knee strikes, until Darby counters into the stunner, and the last supper for the win. Darby Allin defeated Sammy Guevara @ 11:00 via pin [***¼] The start was a smart play off of their PPV match, continuing their rivalry well. These two have good chemistry, work well together and delivered a good match.

– To the Hardy compound with Matt. Matt says he laid out a challenge to Jericho, to come to the compound to do battle. Jericho hasn’t responded, and all he saw was the bubbly bunch. Sammy called him out, the false Spanish God, so he invites Sammy to the compound to fight Jericho’s battle, and he will be deleted. Jericho doesn’t know how to handle his broken brilliance, so Matt turns into the mortal Matt Hardy, discussing his relationship with Jericho. He’s with the Elite, they are good friends and Jericho was angry. Jericho wants to create chaos and return to there top. He can’t allow that to happen, because AEW is about the future. Send Sammy if you want, he will kick his ass until he gets to Jericho. Jericho isn’t pleased.

– Taz breaks down Kenny’s snapdragon & V trigger, I really like these little videos.

Kenny Omega vs. Alan Angels: Angels attacks with kicks, but Kenny quickly grounds him and Angels counters back to his feet. Kenny follows with a tackle, they pick up the pace and Kenny delivers chops. Angels fights off the snapdragon, hits a senton but Kenny counters the second. The backbreaker follows for 2. Kenny delivers chops, strikes and works over Angels in the corner. Angels fires back, lariat by Kenny but Angels stuns him off the ropes. He hits the dropkick and covers for 2. Ground and pound follows, he heads up top and misses the double stomp, but hits an enziguri. Snapdragon by Kenny and the V trigger follows for 2. The doctor bomb and V trigger finishes it. Kenny Omega defeated Alan Angels @ 6:25 via pin [**¾] An enjoyable outing from Kenneth, who was really great here.

– We get a profile package on Scorpio Sky, breaking down his tough road into professional wrestling, which is something he always wanted. His mom was supportive, he suffered a severe back injury and recovered. He got a lot of chances, but was never signed. He kept trying, knowing he may fail, and in 2017 SCU was formed, and that was his big chance. To be continued.

– They recap BTE 200, which was a lot of fun.

Orange Cassidy vs. Jimmy Havoc: Trent & Chuck are at ringside. Havoc attacks right away, pummeling Cassidy with strikes and chokes Cassidy out with his jacket. Havoc follows with chops, chokes out Cassidy with his shirt and dumps him. Havoc works him over on the floor, crotches him on the barricades and follows with a suplex to the floor. he follows with chops, posts Cassidy and delivers more chops. He eye pokes Cassidy, rolls him back in and starts targeting the hand and arm, grounding Cassidy. Cassidy fires back, but Havoc cuts him off with a running DVD and uppercut for 2. The arm bar follows, but Cassidy makes the ropes. Havoc goes back to the hand, follows with body shots and puts Cassidy’s hands in his pockets and then delivers strikes. Cassidy fires up and hits a dropkick, follows with a suicide dive and high cross back in the ring. The tornado DDT connects for 2. Havoc fires back, they work up top as Cassidy dumps him. The splash follow for 2. Havoc fires back, lights up Cassidy and Cassidy counters into a superman punch. Ford distracts him, Chuck tries to help and Kip arrives and hits a dive. Ford tries to attack and Cassidy cradles Havoc for the win Orange Cassidy defeated Jimmy Havoc @ 9:25 via pin [**¾] This was enjoyable with solid work, but the Cassidy stuff plays better with a crowd.

– Havoc lays out Cassidy post match.

– We get a health update on MJF. MJF talk about us dealing with something big, depressing, and that’s the fact that he hasn’t wrestled on TV. He hasn’t been here because in his last appearance, he suffered a serious injury while throwing his cash, a hang nail. But he gambled through to the end of the show. It became life threatening, but he will rise from the ashes and win the world title.

The Wardlow vs. Lee Johnson: Wardlow attacks, Johnson fires back and is quickly powerslammed. Wardlow tosses him around with ease, but Johnson tries to fight back. Te’s easily cut off and the straps are down as the F 10 finishes it. The Wardlow defeated Lee Johnson @ 2:35 via pin [NR] The Wardlow killed a young man.

– We see someone drinking as they get bad news, and they start searching online and find the Dark Order and ask for help. Brodie Lee arrives and meets with the mystery man, he asks how all the man is. He’s 6’2, 240, and played college football. Some people have success handed to them, Brodie isn’t afraid of success and offers the power of the Dark Order to this man and gives him a mask as well as a home. It’s nice to see the exalted one taking in former XFL players.

Brodie Lee vs. Justin Law: Lee takes control right away, pummeling poor Law. The superkick follows and Lee kills him with a sleeper suplex. Lee delivers chops, the black hole slam and the rolling lariat finishes it. Brodie Lee defeated Justin Law @ 2:00 via pin [NR] Mr. Brodie Lee killed a man, while also continuing the tease of a match with Marko Stunt.

– The Best Friends and Cassidy are backstage and the Best Friends challenge Havoc & Sabian to a tag match.

– The Bubbly Bunch is back. Sammy is sad, but Ortiz & his stuffed animals pep talk him as Hager tells him he’s too beautiful to be upset. Jericho tells them to be happy and dance, and Jericho offers up hand sanitizer as a prize to do a flim flam video. They do a mock Tik Tok deal as they all dance and Sammy goes wild showing off. Jericho is pissed, “enjoy your hand sanitizer Sammy!”

– We get a Jon Moxley video package. He’ll be here next week.

– NEXT WEEK: Marko Stunt vs. Brodie Lee. Cody vs. Darby Allin, & Lance Archer vs. Dustin Rhodes, Kip Sabian & Jimmy Havoc vs. Best Friends (No DQ Match).

– We get a video package to hype the main event between Dustin Rhodes vs. Kip Sabian.

TNT Championship Tournament Quarterfinal Match: Dustin Rhodes vs. Kip Sabian: Dustin has teased retiring if he loses. Ford & Brandi are at ringside. They lockup and Dustin takes early control, grounding things. Kip works to the ropes and they lockup, pick up the pace and Dustin follows with the uppercut. He follows with an arm drag, grounding Kip again. Kip escapes, fires back and controls with an enziguri and PK for 2. Ford chokes out Dustin as Kip takes the ref, and Kip then grounds things. Post break and Dustin misses a running knee, allowing Kip to ground him and cover for 2. Kip starts targeting the knee, maintaining control as the ref checks on Dustin. Kip follows with a dropkick for 2, Dustin gets a cradle but Kip escapes and pick up a near fall. Kip tries to keep him grounded, Dustin fires back and gets a roll up for 2. The knee strike and lariat by Kip connects for 2. Kip grounds him again, but Dustin fires up and hits the desperation spinebuster. He follows with clotheslines, the drop down uppercut and bulldog. The snap slam follows for 2. Kip counters back into a springboard DDT for 2. Kip talks shit to Dustin, lays in ground and pound, the ref pulls him off and Ford is in, Brandi spears her and Dustin follows with a destroyer and pins Kip. Dustin Rhodes defeated Kip Sabian @ 14:20 via pin [***] This was good, and Dustin winning to go onto face Lance Archer is the right call. Kip is a guy with a lot of unrealized potential, so working with a guy like Dustin is a great thing for him.

The 411 on Wrestling Podcast returns to the 411 Podcasting Network for episode 108. On the show, 411’s Larry Csonka & Steve Cook go retro, looking back to 2004 with reviews of WrestleMania XX, the Raw after, and WWE Backlash 2004 w/@VPenguin. The show is approximately 131-minutes long.

* Intro
* WrestleMania XX Review: 6:20
* Reviewing The Raw The Night After: 49:25
* WWE Backlash 2004 Review w/Trent (@VPenguin) : 1:22:56

* iTunes
* Spotify
* Stitcher
* Google Play

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

This week’s episode of AEW Dynamite was an improvement over last week’s effort. It was good, enjoyable (Tony & Chris are so much fun on commentary), they continued giving the right people wins in the TNT tournament, and set up next week’s show nicely.