wrestling / TV Reports
Pantoja’s AEW Dynamite 7.28.22 Review
Loading...AEW Fight for the Fallen
July 27th, 2022 | DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts
I always appreciate these special episodes of Dynamite.
AEW Interim World Championship: Jon Moxley [c] (53-4-1) vs. Rush (1-0)
If you’re wondering how Rush earned a title shot, AEW explained that he’s won like 13 straight matches in other companies. I know people were happy that CM Punk won the World Title but Moxley has been so good in 2022 (my current wrestler of the year) that he should beat Punk and remain champion. Rush jumped Moxley during his entrance to gain the upper hand. William Regal put Rush over on commentary because he’s great like that. Rush beat the champ up outside and busted him open. Moxley bleeds on weekly TV like he’s 2003 Triple H, except you know, he’s actually good. Rush choking Moxley with ringside cables was such a throwback spot. It gave him control through the break. Returning, Moxley got going and they traded strikes in the center of the ring. That led to Moxley KICKING HIS FUCKING HEAD IN and I love that the BCC has adopted that from Danielson. Still, Rush came back with big offensive moves that impressed Regal in the booth. Andrade got involved by shoving Moxley off the top, prompting the Lucha Brothers to run him off to a pop. With the odds even again, Moxley kicked out of a piledriver, hit Death Rider, and won with the Bulldog Choke in 13:52. A great way to start the show and a strong performance from Rush. Moxley doesn’t miss right now. [***¾]
The Jericho Appreciation Society interrupted Moxley’s celebration. The leader was out with Sammy Guevara, Tay Conti, Angelo Parker, and Anna Jay. Angelo mocked Roman’s intro by saying “AEW Galaxy, Appreciate Us.” We got a short promo from Anna calling herself Anna JAS and that she’ll choke out everyone. It wasn’t great work. Anyway, Jericho ranted about beating Eddie Kingston despite the injuries he suffered. He now wanted a shot at Moxley to avenge the loss back in 2020. They’ll be meeting at Quake on the Lake in August and Moxley said he hates Jericho. He used to look up to him but he never liked the sports entertainment geek with gimmicks like Le Champion, The Wizard, The Painmaker, etc. He also hates the interim nonsense because he’s the world champ. Moxley said that Quake on the Lake, he doesn’t want this Jericho. He wants the Lionheart. A fine promo to set things up.
We finally got the announcement of the Trios Titles, with the finals of the tournament airing at All Out.
Dante Martin was interviewed about facing Sammy Guevara tonight. He cut a short promo and introduced Skye Blue as his second to combat Tay Conti. They’re dating in real life, so that’s cool.
FTW Championship: Ricky Starks [c] (50-12) vs. Danhausen (3-1)
The ABSOLUTE pop for Danhausen was wild. If you haven’t seen the video package they did to hype this, go out of your way now. It’s brilliant. Speaking of video packages, Ricky Starks got a fun one before this and feels like a major star. Taz noted that at 378 days, Starks is the longest reigning FTW Champion ever. They did some comedic taunt stuff early before Starks caught him with a Spear and retained in 1:27. [NR]
Post-match, Starks got on the mic and said he had more in the tank, issuing another immediate challenge. Taz didn’t think this was a good idea. The crowd chanted for Hook and they got it.
FTW Championship: Ricky Starks [c] (51-12) vs. Hook (10-0)
Taz noted that Starks helped train Hook in Team Taz. Hook also debuted orange trunks. TEAM TAZ EXPLODES. Hook laid into him with body shots and a suplex before Starks rallied with a suplex of his own and the Spear. Hook countered Roshambo into Redrum and got the win in 1:33. An awesome moment that the fans were dying to see. I love that Ricky got to do the job to the guy he helped train. [NR]
After the match, Hook and Starks fist bumped. You could hear how proud Taz was on commentary.
Following the break, Starks was still in the ring with Powerhouse Hobbs as Tony Schiavone interviewed him. He cut a babyface promo about how he exceeded expectations and made the title mean something. He said that he’s not waiting for his chance because his time was last year, this year, and right now. As Starks said that he has been a victim of bad timing, not bad luck, Hobbs laid him out with a clothesline. Didn’t see that coming. Hobbs added a spinebuster as Taz was confused in the booth. I didn’t need the team to split but Starks is going to light AEW on FIRE as a face.
Backstage, The Acclaimed said there will be a music video on Friday dissing the Ass Boys and it’ll also reveal their stipulation for the upcoming match.
Dante Martin (54-29) vs. Sammy Guevara (45-29)
Man, remember how BAD face Sammy was? Like, look at the dude. Also, I love how this match is Sammy Guevara vs. a younger, better version of Sammy Guevara. You knew that this was going to be a clash of two aerial artists and they delivered on that front. Sammy instilled his work with character moments and arrogance. It’s his first singles match since April while Dante has been doing a bunch of them. Dante mocked Sammy back and continued to one-up him at every turn. The heels teased bailing but Dante brought them back and we got a commercial break. Dante attempted a springboard to the outside but ate a jumping knee to turn the tide. We got more high flying inside as Dante hit a series of moves. I loved the spot where Sammy avoided Dante’s double jump finisher only to immediately follow with his own double jump into a cutter. He then added GTH to win in 8:46 while staring down Skye Blue. That was a fun match that felt different from the rest of the show. [***]
Sammy and Tay stomped on Dante until Blue hopped in and got in Sammy’s way. Tay argued with Blue until Anna Jay hit the ring and leveled her from behind. Blue took a beating until Ruby Soho made the save with Ortiz and Eddie Kingston. Just have Ruby permanently replace Santana and put them in the tag division.
Daniel Garcia was interviewed about how he has been getting sharper in the ring while Bryan has been gardening. He’ll be known as the greatest technical sports entertainer in the world after tonight.
Outside, Jay Lethal and Sonjay Dutt said their team are the real best friends around here. The actual Best Friends interrupted to say they’re open for Friday. Trent dissed Sonjay and said he doesn’t have what it takes, causing Dutt to agree to a trios match. THE ORIGINAL PLAYA FROM THE HIMALAYAS IS BACK. Of course, as soon as Best Friends left, Dutt yelled at his buddies for not stopping him.
Schiavone brought out Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus to a pop. JB fired off to start by calling Christian the biggest pussy he’s ever seen. He also called out Christian needing money because his wife divorced him and said he’s a movie villain with a turtleneck and tiny prick. He added that Luchasaurus joined Christian so that nobody else got their hands on him before he could. Just as JB started talking about his dad, Christian interrupted from the back and suggested that Luchasaurus should’ve stayed with him instead of being JB’s lap dog. He said he’ll put JB in a body bag next. Best JB promo I’ve seen. He still doesn’t seem totally comfortable but there’s improvement.
In the back, the Young Bucks were surprised to learn about Trios Titles. Landon Cutler wants to be their partner but they declined and ran into Hangman Page. There’s a tease of a reunion but Dark Order showed up to wish Page happy birthday so the Bucks walked off.
Mark Sterling (0-1) and Tony Nese (19-4) vs. Swerve Strickland (12-4)
Keith Lee was barred from ringside and he watched in the back. This was your traditional handicap match with a comedic guy in there. Swerve and Nese did the heavy lifting with Sterling wanting to avoid action unless Swerve was down. They worked through a break and Nese was knocked into Sterling for a tag. Swerve kept hitting offense on Nese and ended up alone with Sterling. He hit the kick to the head to win in 6:42. That was what it needed to be. [**]
Backstage, Josh Woods laid out Keith Lee. Please, no more ROH involvement. Nese then laid out Swerve and held up the titles like Woods did in the back.
We heard from the House of Black. Malakai said he had an offer for Miro that he couldn’t refuse. Meanwhile, Brody King challenged Darby Allin to a Coffin Match.
Footage aired of PAC’s latest All-Atlantic Title defense on Dark.
AEW Women’s World Championship: Thunder Rosa [c] (58-9) vs. Miyu Yamashita (1-0)
Dude, Thunder Rosa’s record looks wild. The women get the death slot again. AEW really needs to learn how to structure their shows a bit differently. Their match on Dark was very good (***½). This wasn’t quite as good but still had some highlights. Both ladies brought out impressive offense and had a hard hitting fight. The problem is that there was no reason for the crowd to care about it. They don’t know Yamashita and despite her popularity, Rosa hasn’t been booked well as champ and feels like the third or fourth most important woman on the roster. After a break, Yamashita had a near fall with a skull kick but again, nobody bought it as a finish. Rosa won with the Fire Thunder Driver in 10:01. That was a match and it was fine. [**¾]
RAMPAGE!
· Lee Moriarty vs. Matt Sydal
· Ethan Page vs. Leon Ruffin
· Anna Jay vs. Ruby Soho
· Best Friends vs. Jay Lethal, Sonjay Dutt, and Satnam Singh
DYNAMITE
· The Undisputed Elite return
· Christian Cage vs. Matt Hardy
· Thunderstorm vs. Britt Baker and Jamie Hayter
Bryan Danielson (27-4-2) vs. Daniel Garcia (25-18)
Chris Jericho joined commentary for this and suggested that Danielson is back too soon from injury. Danielson started with a running knee before the bell and the crowd was PUMPED. He got “welcome back” chants after a tope suicida. Garcia turned things around when he wailed on Danielson as he entered the ring and was vicious throughout, including exposing the concrete outside. That would come into play later. Danielson rallied but on a missile dropkick, he stayed down, ringing his own bell and furthering what Jericho said on commentary. Danielson was again knocked out with forearms and looked out of it. Garcia pounced, throwing him into steel steps and nailing a DDT on the concrete going into the break. That got exactly the reaction it needed. Garcia didn’t let up and we got a busted open Danielson fighting back despite barely being able to stand. Danielson’s back suplex off the top further damaged him. The closing stretch was fantastic as they threw suplexes, traded elbows, and both went for various submissions. Danielson standing up while taking a bunch of elbows was great. As we neared the end of the show, both men came close to winning and you got the sense it might reach a draw. Garcia got to the ropes on the Yes Lock and took a knee outside. As Danielson went back in, he got his foot grabbed from under the ring. That allowed Garcia to slap on a Sharpshooter and Danielson passed out after 17:04. A tremendously told story built around Garcia’s aggressive nature and Danielson not being ready to return. Filled with violence, great wrestling, and marks a HUGE win for Garcia. [****½]
Jake Hager showed up as the hand who held Danielson’s boot.
