Pantoja’s AEW Dynamite Review 8.10.22

AEW Quake by the Lake

August 10th, 2022 | Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota

You guys know how much I love these special episodes of AEW Dynamite.

Coffin Match: Brody King (12-2) vs. Darby Allin

We didn’t get to see Darby’s record since he jumped Brody once he got into the ring. He had a skateboard with thumbtacks on it and Brody was bleeding badly almost instantly. Brody turned it around and just started throwing Allin all over ringside. Commentary even noted that he might’ve had this won early but wanted to inflict more punishment. That kept up through the commercial break and Brody set up a table outside with bad intentions. Perfectly timed after the break, Brody missed a splash and crashed through the table. The House of Black showed up, complete with the returning Buddy Matthews. They beat up Darby and when Buddy went to open the coffin, Sting was laying in there! Hilariously, Buddy just stood there awkwardly as Sting slowly got up and prepared to hit him. In a cool moment though, Sting had some of the Malakai black spot over his eye on his paint. Sting kicked ass before throwing the bat to Malakai. Interestingly, Malakai dropped the bat and left, leaving the match to be one-on-one. Darby hit a dive and then used Brody’s chain to hang Brody over the ropes and once Darby let go, Brody fell into the casket at the 13:24 mark. A hell of a match that felt like a war though I’m over Darby winning these. [***¾]

Jon Moxley cut a promo where he called the AEW Title the FYI Title in the spirit of the FTW Title. I’m assuming “fuck your interim” maybe.

Chris Jericho, clean-shaven and dressed as Lionheart, also got promo time to put over his history and promise to win the title.

The brackets were announced for the Trios Tournament and they’re kind of disappointing.

· Death Triangle vs. United Empire. It’ll be good but nobody thinks the Aussie Open team has a shot, right? It’s like it’s only there to tease Willy vs. Kenny if he returns.

· The Bucks and a mystery partner vs. Andrade, Rush, and Dragon Lee. Love Dragon Lee coming in.

· House of Black vs. Dark Order. The latter seems like they’re only there to give the Bucks and Hangman some storyline issues.

· Best Friends vs. Trustbusters. I’m sorry…why are the Trustbusters in there? Even the Gunn Club makes more sense given their record.

Tornado Tag Team Match: La Facción Ingobernable (0-0) vs. The Lucha Brothers (28-11)

Rush and Andrade have a cool entrance together though Andrade is in DIRE need of better gear. This was just as wild as you’d expect from these four. I’m so glad they did away with tags here because I just want to see them go all out. I couldn’t keep up with the action as they did so much cool shit in just the few minutes before the commercial break. Returning from the break, they kept that up with some big near falls and offensive moves. Your feelings on this match with likely vary depending on if you appreciate a good clusterfuck. There was nothing traditional about this and I dug that. Sure they might’ve gone overboard at a few points (an apron Destroyer should kind of be a wrap) but it was still exciting. I hated some of the finish though. They pulled off Pentagon’s mask AGAIN and have run that into the ground. I get what the mask means but taking losses because of it feels like a bad move. With Pentagon out, Fénix fell to some LFI offense in 13:51. [***¾]

We got a lengthy backstage segment where the Young Bucks thank Hangman for saving them last week and apologized for the stuff they’ve done to him in the past. They want to have him as their partner next week. Hangman was touched but declined because when he won the World Title and through all of that, Dark Order had his back so he wants to have theirs and not compete against them for the Trios Titles. The Bucks weren’t happy but seemed to understand.

Anthony Henry vs. Luchasaurus (12-3)

Jungle Boy was on commentary here. Henry is actually good and he had a strong match with Orange Cassidy on Dark this week. Luchasaurus won with ease here in 0:37. [NR]

Christian Cage cut a promo in the back where he dissed Minneapolis. Jungle Boy, knowing where promos are done, ran to the back to get to Christian but was cut off by security.

Miro had a promo about his God when Julia Hart appeared. She touched his face and told him to embrace the gift like she did. Miro: “There’s only one woman who can touch the Redeemer and you are not her.” He will destroy House of Black.

The Factory promised to take care of Ricky Starks and even tried to recruit Powerhouse Hobbs, who obviously didn’t care.

Oh, no. Jay Lethal came out with Sonjay Dutt and Satnam Singh for a promo that nobody cares about. Basically, Jay wanted another TNT Title shot. Wardlow arrived and accepted because Jay isn’t someone to be worried about. He then went up for a fight and backup arrived in the form of FTR. Man, AEW has the best tag team in the world and they’ve been treading water for MONTHS. The heels bailed only to come back in and get taken care of. That was a segment.

The JAS got interviewed in the back. 2.0 said tonight was going to be a celebration while Daniel Garcia called himself the Dragon Slayer and said he sent Bryan back to his garden. Anna Jay shouted at a random woman and choked her out for not believing Garcia was the dragon slayer. Funny stuff.

Aaron Solo (8-26) vs. Ricky Starks (51-13)

This actually got a video package since these two used to be partners. I legit laughed at Solo saying Starks should’ve let the Factory lead him to success when Starks is 51-13 and everyone I the Factory is ass. Starks even said their offer was the worst thing to happen to him above losing the title and having his friend turn on him. Starks won quickly with the Spear in 2:02 as he is already looking like a great babyface. [NR]

Starks fought off Nick Comoroto but when he saw the numbers game become too much, he bailed through the crowd to a pop.

The Gunn Club got interrupted in the back by Stokely Hathaway who called Billy “Grandpa Ass.” He offered his card to them but Billy took it and said he got his sons a match on Rampage. Danhausen arrived to say it’ll be against him and the “big bearded fellow.”

The Trustbusters (who are getting way too much TV time) came up to Best Friends as Ari Daivari offered to guide Orange Cassidy to the top. They just bickered a bit.

AEW TBS Championship: Jade Cargill [c] (35-0) vs. Madison Rayne (1-0)

The news that Kris Statlander hurt her knee is heartbreaking. She’s so good even if she has also been treading water and I 100% think she should’ve been the one to beat Jade at All Out. This is another quality opponent for Jade because Rayne has been around forever. We got a commercial break pretty early and upon returning, Jade has control thanks to her strength. Outside, Kiera Hogan seemed to argue with Leila Grey, who was relegated to the Baddie Section. Rayne got her biggest offensive move when she hit a DDT out of a counter. Hogan got on the apron to open the door for Jade to win a series of counters and hit Jaded to retain in 7:34. That was a weird one. It was okay at first but the late stuff didn’t work. I also don’t think the Hogan interference was needed. [**]

Post-match, Athena hit the ring after being disguised as a Baddie. She mocked Jade and attacked her before picking up the title and posing with it. This storyline is COLD and Athena hasn’t looked like a legitimate threat at all.

Backstage, Thunder Storm was interviewed. With Statlander out, Toni Storm is the top contender (has she really won any notable singles matches lately?). I guess these two will wrestle soon.

RAMPAGE

· Bryan Danielson returns and will speak

· We’ll hear from Hook

· Ass Boys vs. Beardhausen (Danhausen and Erick Redbeard)

· Parker Boudreaux vs. Sonny Kiss (Sonny should 100% win but won’t)

· Swerve in Our Glory will speak

· Ari Daivari vs. Orange Cassidy

· AAA Mixed Tag Titles: Sammy Guevara and Tay Melo defend against Dante Martin and Skye Blue (weak card overall)

DYNAMITE (PRESENTED BY HOUSE OF THE DRAGON)

· Andrade, Rush and Dragon Lee vs. The Young Bucks and a mystery partner

· Toni Storm vs. KiLynn King

· Bryan Danielson vs. Daniel Garcia 2 Out of 3 Falls (FUCK YES)

AEW Interim World Championship: Jon Moxley [c] (57-4-1) vs. Chris Jericho (46-18-1)

Jericho was indeed in Lionheart gear and even busted out the goofy ponytail. They opened this with some mat work until Jericho got violent by ripping Moxley’s earring out, which caused him to bleed A LOT. Mox, you’re already the wrestler of the year, you don’t have to sacrifice blood each week for it. That took us through the commercial break and upon returning, Jericho hit a Lionsault only for Moxley to go for some submission work. I popped for Jericho bringing out the ring post Figure Four, an all-time favorite of mine. Heading into a second break, Jericho had the Walls applied, which actually lasted until they came back from commercial. It’s not the most exciting spot but it worked in this setting. Moxley finally got free and started a comeback but Sammy Guevara ran out with a baseball bat. He overthrew it but Jericho still leveled Moxley with it for two. Moxley survived Judas Effect and now it was Jericho’s turn to get busted open as he hit the exposed buckle. He bled a lot too. Moxley managed to escape the Liontamer and rained down elbow strikes on Jericho’s head before winning with the rear naked choke in 22:34. A very good match that did have a bit too much going on at times. I feel like when you’re bleeding weekly, it takes away from some of the impact that bleeding can typically have. [***¾]

Sammy and Jake hit the ring to jump Moxley until the Blackpool Combat Club, Eddie Kingston, and Ortiz made the save. That triggered the rest of the JAS and I was expecting a Bryan Danielson save. Instead, we got the shocking return of CM Punk. He looked to be moving pretty well and the pop he got was wild. He laid out everyone moving and cleaned house, leaving it up to himself and Jon Moxley for the staredown as we finally have our All Out main event set between the two World Champs. I fully expect Punk to come out on top but given how Moxley has performed in 2022, he 100% should remain on top. Moxley flipped him off and left.

8.0

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

Man, it is a FUN time to be a wrestling fan. WWE has been better since SummerSlam and AEW has been great this year. Not everything on this show worked but I had a hell of a fun time and that’s just what I want from my wrestling. I’m having a blast.