Pantoja’s AEW Dynamite Review 4.20.22

AEW Dynamite

April 20th, 2022 | Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

CM Punk (16-1) vs. Dustin Rhodes (33-14)

The expected huge ovation for Punk. I love that Dustin disappears on TV for a few months and then returns to have a banger here or there. He did it with Danielson back in October or November. They shook hands before the bell and proceeded to have a match built around mutual respect. There was no animosity here. They went through a feeling-out process until Dustin was sent outside where he banged up his knee just before a commercial break. Returning, the idea was that Dustin was not going to quit and he started focusing on the arm a bit in his comeback attempt. Dustin got his closest call on Code Red, though the outcome was never really in doubt. Punk avoided the Curtain Call, clipped the knee, and applied a Figure Four that led to them trading shots. Punk survived a few more bits of Dustin’s offense and Dustin countered the GTS, only for Punk to turn that pin around and score the three in 17:24. That was given a lot of time and they made it work. Some good old-fashioned pro wrestling between two veterans with no frills. Dustin is better than ever. [***½]

Post-match, Hangman Page arrived and had a staredown with Punk on the stage since Punk has been mentioning the AEW Title lately.

Wardlow arrived and was told by Mark Sterling that he could only go to his locker room and the ring. The entire time, he’ll be in handcuffs and have security with him.

Blackpool Combat Club (Danielson 18-2-2, YUTA 21-19, Moxley 47-4-1) vs. Brock Anderson, Dante Martin and Lee Moriarty

No record was given for Anderson, Martin, and Lee since they were already in the ring. The BCC attacked before the bell because they just wanted a fight. After a brawl for a bit things calmed down in a more traditional tag. Martin going against Danielson was great and he showed off some of his sick skills. I feel like him being in this match is odd since he has no affiliation with these guys and is focused on Top Flight right now. There are plenty of others who could’ve been in that spot. This went through a commercial break but was mostly a way to show off the dominance of the new stable. Of course, Danielson is a giving man in the ring and he made sure that Moriarty and Martin looked great. The highlight came when Moxley rained down elbows on Martin, Danielson kicked Lee’s head in, and YUTA hit Anderson with elbows too, all at the same time. Moxley then planted Martin with the Paradigm Shift to win in 8:07. I fucking love this stable so much. [***]

The Undisputed Elite talked backstage, with the Young Bucks not even wearing their flashy absurd outfits. They are struggling, with reDRagon losing last week, the Bucks losing to FTR, and Cole dropping two to Hangman Page. Cole said all of the Bucks’ friends are gone but they’re here and as a functioning unit, they can’t be beat. Cole issued an open 10-man challenge for next week to remind everyone how good they are.

A vignette aired to hype Joe vs. Singh and nobody cares.

Tony Khan was brought out for his big announcement. He looks like a total dweeb, especially when standing next to the dapper president of New Japan. Adam Cole interrupted to say that he’s done great things in Japan (lmao no he hasn’t, he barely had a run there) and he announced the joint AEW/NJPW show for June 26th, Forbidden Door. He also revealed that on Rampage, he’ll face Tomohiro Ishii in an Owen Hart Qualifier. He then introduced Jay White, who put over the show and said that the night will belong to the Undisputed Elite and the Bullet Club. He also said he single-handedly sold out MSG, which is great. I love Jay White. Also, with the joint show being at the United Center, part of me can see Punk beating Page and facing Okada in a Champion vs. Champion match at the arena.

Jade Cargill was interviewed, officially with her Baddies (Kiera Hogan and Red Velvet) in the back. Jade told Mark to shut up and said she’ll see Marina Shafir on Friday. I like the idea of these three together.

The Butcher (39-21) vs. Wardlow (46-8)

MJF and Shawn Spears watched from a press box. Wardlow was out in cuffs until the bell rang. There wasn’t all that much to this match but it worked for what it was. Two hosses throwing big blows at each other in a short period of time. After some brawling outside, Wardlow started in with the Powerbomb Symphony, doing some while looking right up at MJF. That ended this in 4:14 and Wardlow happily put back on the cuffs on his way out. [**¼]

We got a backstage promo from Eddie Kingston, who hyped a match at Rampageagainst Daniel Garcia where everyone is barred from ringside. Everything he does to Garcia, he promises to also do to Jericho.

Owen Hart Foundation Men’s Tournament Qualifying Match: Jungle Boy (78-36-1) vs. Kyle O’Reilly (4-2)

It’s Kyle’s singles debut in AEW. I came in very excited for this because I’m a big fan of both guys. I also much prefer qualifying matches where the outcome isn’t obvious like they were for a lot of the women’s bouts. Plus, putting Jungle Boy against a vet like Kyle will only continue to help him improve. They had some quality back and forth to start things and you could see that Kyle was the more experienced guy, always remaining a step ahead. He even goaded him into a striking battle that Jungle Boy couldn’t win. They worked through commercial with Kyle holding serve but Jungle Boy started a rally. Kyle knew how to stop him with a kick to the knee but Jungle still got some big stuff going. The closing few minutes of this were strong and saw Jungle Boy locked in the Snare Trap. Nobody has broken it though Kyle was able to get to the ropes. Kyle won with a Brainbuster and knee to the back off the top at the 12:53 mark. A clean win for Kyle in a hell of a match. [***½]

MJF was interviewed and basically set up Wardlow’s next opponent, Lance Archer.

Anthony Henry (0-1) vs. Hook (6-0)

Monster pop for Hook. Tony Nese and Mark Sterling were in the crowd to watch. Henry is someone who impressed me in smaller promotions. Anyway, this was meant to be one-sided as Hook dominated with various suplexes. As he set up for crossface punches, Danhausen showed up from under the ring to try and curse him. The crowd ate this up. Hook locked in Redrum and won in 1:19. [NR]

Danhausen got in the ring after the bell to yell at Hook for not falling for his curses. He said that if he won’t get cursed, he’ll have to fight Danhausen! That got a monster ovation from the crowd and even Hook laughed a bit for the first time. Danhausen seemed to realize that he made a mistake. I need them as best friends, not opponents!

Frankie Kazarian attempted to challenge Sammy Guevara but Scorpio Sky interrupted (though commentary spoiled that he was there) to ask his old friend to step aside and let him challenge Samuel first. Frankie agreed.

A Thunder Rosa vignette aired.

Sammy Guevara, acting as a full douche heel, was in the ring with Tay Conti. There’s a thought process online that people hate Sammy because he’s dating Tay Conti. I never really got that. I personally didn’t like him since day one (there are so many guys who do what he does but better from Ricochet to Dante Martin). Hell, Jungle Boy dates Anna Jay and nobody cares because they aren’t annoying. Anyway, Ethan Page COOKS Sammy by shouting that nobody came to the show to hear Sammy cut a promo. Man isn’t wrong. They let Dan Lambert talk and I still don’t get this. Dan can help someone who can’t talk but Page and Sky are good promos, especially Page. They end up booking Sammy vs. Sky in a Ladder Match next week, as well as agree on a mixed tag at some point in the future, though who is involved isn’t clear.

The House of Black got to cut a rambling promo about taking someone out next week.

Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament Qualifying Match: Britt Baker (42-21) vs. Danielle Kamela (1-1)

Massive hometown ovation for the returning Baker. I still don’t get the hype as she’s good but has never blown me away and remains behind the top women in the world to me. Ah, well. She brought out two Pittsburgh Steelers with her to add to the reaction. JR popped hard for the football players. This match was pretty bland and had the same issue I had with other women’s qualifiers in that they’re obvious in terms of the outcome. This was basically a squash that got dragged on to the last 6:13 for some reason. [*]

Britt got to cut a solid promo afterward, calling the division a disaster without her. She dissed Ruby Soho, Toni Storm, and even Jade Cargill. She said she’ll win the tournament no matter who is in it.

A vignette aired to hype Shida/Deeb, which ends next week in a Philly Street Fight.

RAMPAGE

· Adam Cole vs. Tomohiro Ishii in an Owen Hart Qualifying Match

· Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland interview

· Lance Archer vs. Serpentico

· Eddie Kingston vs. Daniel Garcia

· Tony Schiavone speaks with Jamie Hayter, Toni Storm, and Britt Baker

· Jade Cargill defends the TBS Title against Marina Shafir

DYNAMITE

· Serena Deeb vs. Hikaru Shida in a Street Fight

· Wardlow vs. Lance Archer

· Dax Harwood vs. Cash Wheeler in an Owen Hart qualifier (I hope whoever wins ends up winning the entire tournament)

· Sammy Guevara vs. Scorpio Sky in a Ladder Match

· The Undisputed Elite vs. Varsity Blonds, Dante Martin, Lee Moriarty, and Brock Anderson

Coffin Match: Andrade El Idolo vs. Darby Allin (58-20-1)

We didn’t get Andrade’s record but I know it’s not great. Yeah, this was more of a wild series of events than a match. Almost immediately we got run-ins from the AFO and then things were taken into the crowd. There, a fan dressed as Sting who was then revealed to actually be Sting got involved. I love that he has kept that gimmick going after it became a meme. He also busted out a big dive again. Forget Surfer Sting vs. Crow Sting, New Jack Sting beats them all. Once we got down to the meat of the actual match itself, it was pretty much just okay and not much more. Allin won by backdropping Jose onto the lid, which closed it down on Andrade in 12:17. That was fine but another big loss for Andrade sucks. They’re fumbling the ball with him much in the same way WWE did. Also, what does Darby do now? We know he’s not going to be World Champion and he’s not doing the TNT Title again. [***]

The Hardys randomly appeared to do the DELETE stuff on the stage.

7.5

The final score: review Good

The 411

A very good episode this week. I don’t like some of the booking decisions (Darby winning the main event, Britt’s match going six minutes) but most of it worked really well. With two really good matches also included, the show was an obvious success.