Pantoja’s AEW Dynamite Review 9.7.22

AEW Dynamite

September 7th, 2022 | KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York

How will AEW respond after the massive drama that happened after All Out? This feels like their first major crisis, so a good rebound is important.

Tony Khan started things with a poorly done pre-taped announcement that the World and Trios Champions have been stripped. He looked like a madman with the bug eyes and so much blinking. He also got booed upon appearing on the screen. Anyway, new Trios Champions will be crowned with Best Friends vs. Death Triangle today but we have yet another tournament for the World Title featuring former champions. Moxley and Jericho have byes, while Bryan Danielson vs. Hangman Page is tonight and Rampage gets Darby Allin vs. Sammy Guevara. The finals are at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Cut to the arena for MJF out to a BABYFACE pop. He even rocked a Bills jersey to play to the crowd. He cut a face promo where he apologized for what he said to Buffalo last time (they chanted “you were right”), put over Josh Allen as a great QB, and that he will not participate in the Grand Slam Tournament because he works smarter, not harder, and has a guaranteed title match anyway. Interestingly, he was interrupted by Jon Moxley. Almost immediately, MJF turned on the fans and ran them down before dissing the Bills and wiping his ass with the Josh Allen jersey. Outstanding. MJF said to him, the World Title might be a bargaining chip for 2024 and he could take it to a real wrestling company with his good friend Cody Rhodes, the only Khan in wrestling who matters, and his hero Triple H. Moxley said he wasn’t in the mood and challenged MJF to a fight. They disrobed a bit and MJF got his hand stuck in his shirt, which he played off well, before bailing. Moxley dissed MJF’s music and then cut a passionate promo about what the AEW World Title means to him and how he missed a game-winning shot at All Out. He is missing a vacation to take another shot. Moxley cut a hell of a promo here to put over the company, the competitors in the tournament, and the title while getting past that nonsense from the weekend. Moxley is far and away wrestling’s MVP this year and is AEW’s top guy. Excellent way to start the show.

AEW Trios Championship: Best Friends (3-1 in 2022) vs. Death Triangle (7-3)

Hell yes to this. I miss The Pixies as OC’s theme. PAC teased starting with Cassidy but we got Penta instead, which was still a fun pairing. OC tossing his glasses outside for Danhausen to catch them with one hand was pretty smooth. This got off to a wild start with some big spots including Best Friends launching Cassidy into a dive onto Death Triangle. They worked through a commercial break and upon returning, Trent was taking the heat. I love that the hot tag went to Cassidy only for PAC to totally lay him out and cut off his run. Good twist on the formula. Danhausen tried to confront PAC but Alex Abrahantes interrupted, got cursed, and hit with a low blow. Danhausen tried to curse PAC too but ate a kick before he could. That triggered the closing stretch which featured a bunch of huge spots and tons of excitement. I like a lot of different styles of wrestling and a fun trios tag is right up there. That’s part of why I loved The Shield so much. The Best Friends near fall after they all hit their finishers was sweet. The finish saw Death Triangle hit a trio of Destroyers, the Lucha Brothers hit their finishers and two dives, and then PAC pin Taylor with Black Arrow in 13:04. That was so much goddamn fun and I am here for PAC being AEW’s first double champion. [****]

A Dark Order interview was interrupted by Jose The Assistant trying to buy 10 again. John Silver telling him “your last name is The Assistant” was great. Andrade and Rush came up but no fight happened.

After All Out, Jamie Hayter brushed past Britt Baker and refused to talk to her.

Penelope Ford (31-13) vs. Toni Storm (17-3)

AEW really books Toni Storm every single week. This is a Championship Eliminator, which means a win for Ford earns her a title shot. They worked some mat stuff to start before Toni was sent into the steel steps heading into commercial break. Coming back, Toni rallied and nailed Sweet Cheeks Music (10/10 name). She added the DDT to win in 5:53. This was mostly done during the commercial and was technically fine but nothing more. [**]

2.0 cut a promo about how close they were to beating Hook (not really) before dissing Action Bronson. We also heard from Bronson and Hook, setting up a tag match at Arthur Ashe that I am all about.

The SUPER OVER Acclaimed came out but Max’s rap was cut off before it could begin by the arrival of Swerve Strickland. The crowd was RUTHLESS to him. Interestingly, Keith Lee wasn’t with him, possibly because Swerve seemed more like a heel at the PPV than Keith was. He said he had a joke for them which was the idea of The Acclaimed as Tag Champs. Billy Gunn cut them off to a big pop and said this is Daddy’s Ass house now, not Swerve’s. Bowens got the mic and added that in two weeks at Arthur Ashe Stadium, they get their rematch and there will be new champions. They have to make the title switch, right?

Chris Jericho was interviewed with Sammy, Tay, and Anna. He put over the win over Danielson and said that he found the Fountain of Youth. He then said he’d win the tournament and said he’ll beat Danielson next week, possibly spoiling the match with Hangman.

AEW TNT Championship: Wardlow [c] (59-8) vs. Tony Nese (25-7)

There was an issue with Wardlow’s theme playing late and then his old one hitting. Nese got cocky to start and was LAID out for it. Wardlow then did the Powerbomb Symphony and won in 1:30. Total domination. He added a short promo after about how people say he’s lost momentum (feuding with Jay Lethal will do that to you) but that he’s out to remind everyone that this is Wardlow’s World. [NR]

A video package hyped Sammy/Darby IV

AEW World Championship Tournament Quarterfinals: Bryan Danielson (29-6-2) vs. Hangman Page (57-20-1)

Their past two matches were incredible with the first going to a 60-minute draw and Page winning the rematch in 29 minutes (both ****½). This has potential to add them to the list of my favorite trilogies. I liked that the start of this match saw them not trying to do too much because given their history, neither wanted to make the first mistake. It didn’t last too long either before Hangman was throwing chops and Danielson was reaching into his bag of tricks. Danielson kind of goaded Hangman into a dive outside that he missed and Danielson sent him shoulder first into the post for our first commercial break. Returning, Danielson put a target on that shoulder and got more aggressive. Hangman started a comeback that included him hitting the big avalanche Fallaway Slam but going into a second break, Danielson rolled outside to avoid the Buckshot Lariat. Obviously, things got taken up another notch in the final segment as fans could fell the ending coming and popped hard for close calls from Hangman’s signature moves to Danielson submission attempts. The strikes they traded late also had some great fire behind them and having it set up a Deadeye near fall was tremendous. Danielson hit the Busaiku Knee but Page rolled outside to avoid a pin. Page suckered him into an apron powerbomb before Danielson countered the Buckshot Lariat into a pinning combination to get his first win over Hangman in 22:50. These two DO NOT MISS together. Another incredible match between them. [****½]

Jungle Boy cut a promo about how he’ll get to Christian Cage when he returns for surgery but when it comes to Luchasaurus, he’s got an anchor gone from around his neck and it looks like that’s his program in the meantime.

Stokely Hathaway attempted to cut a promo with his crew but when a PA interrupted to say they were low on time, they beat him up. That answered nothing.

RAMPAGE!

· Samoa Joe peaks

· Sammy Guevara vs. Darby Allin in the Grand Slam Tournament

· Serena Deeb vs. Madison Rayne

· Claudio Castagnoli defends the ROH Title against Dax Harwood (hell yeah)

DYNAMITE!

· Chris Jericho vs. Bryan Danielson in the Grand Slam Tournament

· Jon Moxley vs. Sammy Guevara/Darby Allin in the Grand Slam Tournament

GRAND SLAM!

· The Acclaimed vs. Swerve in Our Glory II

ROH Pure Championship: Wheeler Yuta [c] (30-22) vs. Daniel Garcia (26-19)

Their mat at the ROH PPV ruled (****¼). Buffalo’s own Westside Gunn rapped hometown boy Garcia to the ring. I didn’t really like the rap. In the event of a time limit draw, Jerry Lynn, BJ Whitmer, and Matt Sydal are our judges. Garcia was the clear babyface here. The guys were evenly matched heading into the commercial and kept things grounded. During the break, Garcia exhausted one of his three rope breaks. This got better as it went on and I popped for Yuta’s spot where he hangs out of the ring, pulls himself back in, and hits German suplexes. Following a second commercial, this became more violent with a strike exchange that saw Garcia lay Yuta out with a slap. He tried to get the 10 count with that but Yuta survived. That fire led to Yuta using a closed fist and getting a warning. Pure Title rules make for a fun variation on what we typically see. Garcia used that aggression against Yuta, pulling him into the Dragon Tamer. They traded submissions until the Dragon Tamer got locked in again and Garcia won in 16:35. Again, this is the kind of match I love. I prefer the ROH one but this had the emotion of the hometown crowd. [****]

Post-match, Bryan Danielson came out and spoke with Yuta, who shoved him out of frustration but then shook hands with Garcia. Danielson then snatched the Pure Title and put it around the waist of Garcia. Chris Jericho was livid as he walked out at the sight of Danielson posing with Garcia.

9.5

The final score: review Amazing

The 411

Yes, I nearly gave this a perfect score. We had three legitimately great and very different matches, plus the awesome MJF/Moxley segment, and set up for some big future shows. This is especially impressive given how bad things were for the company over the weekend.