Pantoja’s AEW Dynamite Review 9.28.22

AEW Dynamite

September 28th, 2022 | Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Heading into this show, it’s noted that some wrestlers might not be in attendance due to Hurricane Ian.

The show opened with the Jericho Appreciation Society celebration as the entire JAS was out in purple suits including Tay Melo and Anna Jay. The pizza dude was there too despite some news coming out about him recently. They all spoke about their success and Jericho promised to beat Bandido tonight because sports entertainers always beat wrestlers. He then segued to another sports entertainer, Daniel Garcia. Jericho gifted him an ugly hat and he threw it down before knocking out Luigi. He was prepared to tell Jericho off but got interrupted and Jericho demanded he make his choice. Bryan Danielson showed up to say that Garcia could stay with the JAS or join the BCC but it should be his decision and not Jericho’s. Garcia said Jericho doesn’t tell him what to do and he teased teaming with Danielson against Jericho and Guevara. Matt Menard ran down Garcia but Bryan said he could have a match with anyone who wants to fight right now, leading to this opener.

Bryan Danielson vs. Matt Menard

We don’t get records since this is impromptu. William Regal did his usual over-the-top flirting with Excalibur on commentary. We went to break only a minute or two into this with Menard taking over thanks to smack talk and some stuff happening outside. Angelo Parker also got in cheap shots like a DDT on the outside as this was the only way for Danielson to be in trouble here. His interference brought out Claudio Castagnoli who ran Parker over with an uppercut and carried him to the back. Danielson hit the Busaiku Knee and won with the LeBelle Lock in 8:38. That was a fun little opener given Danielson’s skills and Menard’s personality. [**¾]

A video package aired to hype Juice Robinson/Jon Moxley.

MJF was supposed to get promo time but Wheeler Yuta hit the ring instead. He said that he wanted to fight MJF for putting his hands on Tony Schiavone. MJF likes to hide behind Wardlow, Pinnacle, the Firm, and his microphone because he can’t hang once the bell rings. MJF showed up in a Mets jersey to run down all of Philadelphia, Yuta, and Schiavone. It led to Yuta wanting to fight only for the Gunn Club to show up and protect Max, who declined a match in Philly. However, he accepted a fight in dumpy D.C. over this place.

Next week on Dynamite, we’re getting Lethal vs. Allin. Why can’t we escape Lethal?

AEW World Championship Eliminator Match: Jon Moxley (59-5-1) vs. Juice Robinson (0-0)

Juice is one of only two men to have multiple wins over Moxley since he got to AEW. Their BOSJ match was fantastic (****¼), I dug the G1 29 match (***½), and their WK 14 match was okay (***). Juice jumped Moxley during his entrance because he’s in the Bullet Club. I really wish he wasn’t. I say that about a lot of guys but it’s extra true for him because he was SUCH a good fiery babyface. By the way, I saw Juice walking around in Cleveland when I went to Dynamite in August. I shouted his name (I was in a car) and he threw up the “too sweet” at me. As a heel, that’s gone and while he nails some of the character stuff, his matches haven’t benefitted from it. Juice held serve through the commercial and Moxley came back after, busting out an ankle lock. Juice picked up some near falls but it never really felt like he was going to score an upset. Moxley cut off his momentum with the Regal Knee and then took the kick out right into KICKING HIS FUCKING HEAD IN before winning with an armbar in 10:26. That was a good, hard hitting match. I wish Juice did a bit more to make himself known to AEW fans. [***¼]

Hangman Page came out in a sweet Dolly Parton shirt. He made a beeline to the ring for a face-off with Moxley ahead of Tuesday Night Dynamite. MJF interrupted from his skybox to say that he might cash in his chip in Cincinnati. It’s interesting that he’s hyping it like MITB. Wheeler Yuta showed up behind him and battered him all around the skybox.

It was now time to hear from Saraya. She did the CM Punk thing of saying she’s happy to be back and got chills from the reaction before saying that AEW is her house. She brought out the women’s division (babyfaces at least) to share the ring with her before mostly putting over Toni Storm as the fighting champion who can lead the change of the division. Britt Baker quickly interrupted with Rebel, Jamie, and Penelope. She said she’s the face of the division and she carried it on her neck and back, which unlike Paige’s, is strong enough to handle it. As always, that was Britt going for the low hanging fruit because she’s a one-trick pony when it comes to promos. She said that it can’t be Saraya’s house if they don’t know how to say her name so Saraya awkwardly paused to say that Britt’s name rhymes with shit. Oh my god, this is the worst. Britt said she respects Toni but tonight she’s facing Serena Deeb who has a very good chance of beating her. Okay, so that is my pick for the worst segment of the year across any company. From the #DivasRevolution level of trying to put over the change in the division to the bad Britt diss to the awkward back and forth to that flat finish. Then, Saraya said she finally has a boss who listens to her (BECAUSE WE HAVE TO MENTION WWE), Tony Khan agreed to make this a lumberjack match. For, reasons.

AEW Interim Women’s World Championship Lumberjack Match: Toni Storm [c] vs. Serena Deeb

The Lumberjack gimmick is super weird. Like, this doesn’t really prevent interference or anything like that. The match itself was fine though because Toni and Deeb are both good wrestlers. Following a commercial break, Toni whiffed on a dropkick but that was the only thing that I felt didn’t come off well. The problem is that neither woman has really shown much personality of late. Deeb’s 1,000 holds gimmick is fine for her but it kind of makes her the female Malenko which isn’t exciting. Meanwhile, Toni hasn’t had much of a gimmick and she’s kind of just the cool rocker chick everywhere she goes. I liked the submissions Deeb worked at points. We got the expected brawl outside. Jamie Hayter, who easily got the biggest pop and cheer throughout the match and promo, was chased away by Willow Nightingale midway through. That’s a choice. Toni rallied and hit Sweet Cheeks Music before turning a pin into Storm Zero for a near fall. That was odd to not be the finish. That was just to set up an avalanche version to end this in 11:17. A good match between two good wrestlers and nothing more. I didn’t love the finish as I’d have saved that avalanche Storm Zero for a bigger match. [***]

The Acclaimed and Daddy Ass were interviewed in the back and announced that next week is National Scissoring Day. They also have an open contract to defend the titles on Friday. Keith Lee stepped in to say Swerve wasn’t around because he was extra upset but Lee was disappointed in them for having Billy Gunn get involved. Billy had two words for Swerve: SCISSOR ME.

Private Party announced that they want out of their contract with Andrade following an argument with Butcher and the Blade. Matt Hardy showed up to suggest that if they can get out of it, he’ll make it worth their while.

Eli Isam vs. Ricky Starks (53-14)

Ricky Starks is one of the few guys who I truly see as having World Champion potential. Ricky put him down with Roshambo in 0:48 and added a hilarious pin on top of it. [NR]

RAMPAGE

· John Silver vs. Rush

· The Acclaimed defend the Tag Titles against Butcher and Blade and Private Party

· Jamie Hayter vs. Willow Nightingale

· Hook appears

· Lee Moriarty vs. Fuego Del Sol

DYNAMITE ANNIVERSARY

· MJF vs. Wheeler Yuta

· National Scissoring Day

· Luchasaurus in action

· Darby Allin vs. Jay Lethal

· Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara vs. Bryan Danielson and Daniel Garcia

ROH World Championship: Chris Jericho [c] (23-8-1) vs. Bandido (0-0)

Bandido is a hell of a wrestler and a former ROH World Champion. Jericho was introduced as “The Ocho.” Bandido never lost the title and Jericho mocked the Code of Honor by flipping him off. This quickly went to commercial and upon return, they did this weird spot where Jericho clearly jumped off the top into a very ready Bandido, who met him with a superkick. It’s one of those spots that makes Jericho look stupid. The highlight of this match was Bandido hitting a delayed vertical suplex that legitimately lasted over a minute. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before. They worked through a second commercial break and upon return, Bandido was bleeding which was visible through his white mask. Honestly, that’s a cool ass visual. The closing stretch was strong and saw Jericho come close to winning with the Walls. Bandido’s fallaway moonsault didn’t come off well and I really don’t like him doing that when it’s a Hangman signature. Jericho survived a modified GTS and 21 Plex before poking him in the eye. He pulled the mask down and won soon after with the Liontamer in 18:21. That was a very good main event though it lacked any kind of drama. [***¼]

Post-match, Bobby Cruise interviewed Jericho who challenged Danielson to an ROH Title match in Toronto. He also said that his goal is to spit on the legacy of ROH and beat former ROH World Champions. He then laid out Cruise with the Judas Effect.

6.5

The final score: review Average

The 411

A lesser episode of Dynamite but that’s okay. This was still a show that featured three matches ***+, it’s just that none really went higher than that. Also, the women’s segment was pretty awful so that drags things down. Next week looks better on paper.