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It is Wednesday and AEW Dynamite is held at the Peoria Civic Center in Peoria, IL. Our commentary team is Excalibur, Taz, and Tony Schiavone.
Jon Moxley and Marina Shafir vs Swerve Strickland and Willow Nightingale w/Prince Nana
Everyone pairs off and starts fighting and since it is a tornado tag team match, it'll probably just be a pure brawl. Mox and Shafir pull out a table quickly and everyone starts fighting in front of the announce table and the women hit the ring. Mox and Swerve fight on the announcer’s desk and then Mox gets whipped into the steel steps.
They switch and Mox and Swerve fight in the ring and Shafir and Willow brawl on the floor. Willow is able to beat down Shafir on the floor and we get Willow clotheslining Mox in the ring. It then goes back to the men fighting on the floor and the women in the ring. When Swerve is down, Mox isn’t attacking Willow, but is instead guiding Shafir until Mox gets an underhook on Willow, and Swerve grabs Shafir and threatens a slam.
The women escape and resume fighting in the ring. Taz gives a lot of Judo information on the moves of Shafir. As they fight on the apron, Shafir puts Willow through the table and we go to picture in picture.
When we return to full screen, Willow gets a big spot where Swerve is on top, Mox and Shafir are going to suplex him, and Willow gets the suplex on all three. Swerve stops Mox from attacking Willow again. The only good thing about that being a mixed tag is that Willow is able to attack Mox, and Swerve saves Willow from any attack from Mox. Mox gets a sleeper on Swerve, and Willow has to slam Shafir into Mox to break it up.
Swerve finally gets to beat down Mox. When Swerve goes to get Mox with the House Call, Shafir pushes him out of the way and takes the move. Willow knocks Mox through a table that the camera COMPLETELY MISSES and then gets the power bomb on Shafir for the pin and their win.
Winner: Swerve Strickland and Willow Nightingale
After the match, Mox hits a DDT on Willow and bails from the ring.
I am not a fan of mixed tag team matches, and the few times AEW has done it, they usually have the men fight or the women fight, but getting rid of that stipulation made it uncomfortable. They were smart to have Willow get the offense, and Swerve cut off Mox’s attacks until the post match attack.
We then get a recap of the FTR drama and Renee Paquette is with FTR and the Referee that Dax hit. Dax gives the fine money directly to the referee and apologizes. Cash is standing by, looking disgusted. Dax then apologizes to Cash (and accidentally calls him Dan), and when he goes for a hug. Cash stops him, says they are brothers, and after the match, they have to talk.
We then get the brackets for the Owen Hart tournament. Kevin Knight is in Jay White’s spot after he was attacked by the Death Riders before the show. We also have a “wild card” in one of the matches. No real surprises on the women’s side.
I REALLY hope they announce some more matches for Dynasty, since we only have 6 matches announced, and we KNOW Tony will have double that number.
Toni Storm vs Penelope Ford
As the match starts, I see a big “We Miss Wardlow” sign.
It’s a fairly standard TV match with Ford getting the upper hand into the commercial, and dominating through the break. When they come back, Ford goes to lick Toni and Toni bites her tongue and holds it in her teeth.
I have no idea how to feel about that.
Storm gets the win with Storm Zero.
Winner: Toni Storm
Megan Bayne comes to the stage +so we get a staredown.
Renee asks Swerve for a medical update on Willow. Swerve puts Willow over as tough and then says he is hunting Mox and isn’t resting until he has his hands on Mox…tonight.
Bobby Lashley and MVP come to the ring with something to say. Before they can say word one, MJF’s music hits.
MJF says that Lashley disrespected him but because he is with his friend MVP, he will get over it. He introduces himself and says that Shelton Benjamin has travel issues today. He then praises Lashley but reminds him this is the block he built. He says he can help them keep the tag team title and they can help him get his World title back, and working together is good business.
Lashlay says out of respect to MVP, he won’t lay MJF out right now. He doesn’t like MJF, doesn’t trust MJF, and they don’t NEED MJF, so he needs to get out of the ring.
MJF says he will prove himself and leaves the ring.
Big Bill and Bryan Keith bring out a chair and tell them to take a seat and watch them.
Big Bill and Bryan Keith vs The Already In The Ring Two Guys Not Even Getting Introduced.
Two poor Peoria Indy wrestlers lose within a minute. I grew up about 30 miles outside of Peoria and had no idea they even HAD Indy wrestlers.
Winners: Big Bill and Bryan Keith
Big Bill cuts a hot promo about how they will beat the Hurt Syndicate’s ass because they want the tag team titles.
Renee asks Mercedes Mone about facing Julia Hart in the Owen Hart tournament, and Money says she will beat Hart spells and tricks. Harley Cameron and Puppet Mone show up to talk about their upcoming tag team match. Mone tells her to stay out of her way.
Will Ospreay and Kevin Knight vs Lee Johnson and Blake Christian
Christian is superb at being a cocky heel and quickly gets the crowd to hate him. This match feels like a spotlight for both him and Kevin Knight, as well as the high spot fest for the crowd. We have also learned there is a move that Will Ospreay can’t do:
The Rick Rude Hip Swivel.
After the commercial break, we move to near falls, and while Ospreay and Christian are doing big moves, Johnson is cutting off Ospreay and getting heel heat. Knight gets the pin on Johnson with a springboard lariat.
Winner: Will Ospreay and Kevin Knight
After the match, we are told we will get Ospreay vs Knight as part of the Owen Hart Tournament at Dynasty.
The Ops have a message for us, and Samoa Joe says the battlefield is changing, and he needs to bring a different arsenal, and Hook and Shibata fit the bill. They will be at Dynasty, watching all and seeing all.
Brody King vs Lance Archer w/Don Callis
Don Callis joins commentary.
HOSS FIGHT!! They just start by throwing hands. The fight moves to the floor and King gets a cross body into Archer in a chair. Archer is rolled into the ring and Callis grabs Brody’s foot, allowing Archer to kick the rope as King gets in the ring, and Archer is able to take over. When they come back from the commercial, the announcers are having a great time talking about the match and ribbing each other. In the ring, they have moved to big suplexes and sentons.
They start throwing big moves at each other. Archer gets a chokeslam on Brody for two, Brody then gets the big cannonball in the corner. Brody gets the win with a big clothesline.
Winner: Brody King
This was to set up the match between Brody and Kanuske Takeshida, who Archer has to eat the loss again.
Cope vs Claudio Castagnoli
Claudio attacks before the bell and the fight goes to the outside with Cope fighting from underneath. Cope is able to recover and they keep brawling on the floor, and it makes me think that AEW should just go ahead and call for the 20 count. Or a 50 count. Or any kind of count.
When they get into the ring they are just throwing hands and giving short arm clotheslines until Cope drives down Claudio for a two count. They are continuing the theme of people just fighting tonight, and next to no “wrestling”. After the commercial break, we have gotten a few wrestling holds with Claudio locking in a Cobra Clutch during the break, and both men trying to suplex the other while in the ropes.
Cope gets a bulldog from the top turnbuckle and both men are down. Claudio is able to get the giant swing on Cope for two. Cope gets an impaler for two. Claudio gets a sharpshooter and then transitions to a crossface. Cope is able to reverse it into a crossface of his own. Claudio is able to get a power slam onto the apron and then tosses Cope over the barricade.
AND NOW WE GET A COUNT.
Cope breaks the count by diving into the ring and we are at the part of the match where they hit big moves and then both have to struggle to recover. Claudio grabs a pair of chairs to set for a con-chair-to and as the ref is taking the chair from Claudio, Cope gets a low blow on Claudio. Cope is able to get a spear for the pin and the win.
Winner: Cope
A big star TV match leads to the trio match at Dynasty so it makes it look like the Death Riders are back on their heels.
In the back, Renee is trying to get an update on Willow, and we see Prince Nana and Swerve arguing. Swerve takes off to look for Mox and the Camera follows him. Adam Page shows to confront Swerve, and security pulls them apart as they argue. When Page yells that Swerve deserved his house being burned down, Swerve says I know. This freaks out Page, who storms off.
It’s at this point that Mox, Pac and Yuta jump Swerve and toss him into garbage and then drag him into the arena to the ring. Swerve is brought into the ring for the beat down. Yuta pours broken glass on the mat and Claudio power bombs Swerve onto it. The Death Riders leave the ring and Swerve sits up and slowly rises to his feet as we are desperately out of time.
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