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4/9 AEW DYNAMITE BLOG

It is Wednesday and AEW Dynamite is held at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore, MD. Our commentary team is Excalibur, Taz, and Tony Schiavone.

We start with Jon Moxley talking about how AEW has the best talent roster in history, but they just can’t get it done. He says the roster doesn’t WANT it. He says that the Young Bucks have returned, which is interesting. He is surrounded by warriors, and the Bucks don’t know what the game is anymore and they need to be careful before they make any moves.

Jon Moxley (AEW World Champion) w/ Marina Shafir vs. Katsuyori Shibata

Mox and Shibata start with mat wrestling, and Shibata and Mox have some good hold/counterhold. When they move to chops, Shibata clearly dominates and Mox has to shift to kicks. Taz uses a lot of judo terminology as the match goes on. The match ends quickly with Mox getting the rear naked choke and Shibata has to tap out.

Winner and still AEW World Champion: Jon Moxley

I would have thought they’d give Shibata more time in the ring before this, since they have built him as one of the upper-tier guys.

The Young Bucks come to the ring, and Mox bails out after yelling at them.

The Bucks stay in the ring and demand respect as the audience boos them. Matt says they have good reasons for costing Swerve the title. They say they did it for Adam Page, who doesn’t want Swerve to ever be champion again. The second reason is they did it as a peace offering. The crowd chants “Swerve’s House” whenever they pause. Nick says the Death Riders want the company to be the best, just like them, and Mox wants to change the world, just like them. Nick says Mox even got the world championship, which they couldn’t do. Imagine if the Death Riders and The Elite were together.

The Bucks ask Mox to come back out and talk business.

This brings out Kenny Omega.

Kenny says if they did this for their friends, they didn’t do anything for him. Instead, they attacked him when he was sick. He says he came back and said it was for his legacy and the safety of the company and not for revenge. He says he had a friend who had two dogs who kept crapping on the floor, and eventually, he had to tell his friend to do their gaming somewhere without crap on the floor.

And that's what AEW was like when the Bucks were around. He then says when the Bucks left, they were shredding the proof of their embezzling. He says they are killing the company he gave his heart and soul for. He mocks the Bucks and says he could do it all night, but why not just have a fight now?

Kazuchika Okada then comes to the ring… followed by Swerve Strickland with a chair and Prince Nana. The Bucks and Okada bail, and Kenny hands over the ring to him.

Swerve says it is Buck hunting season, but Pac attacks Swerve from behind.

We come back to:
Pac vs. Swerve Strickland

We are told Pac beat down Swerve through the break, but Swerve attacks as the bell rings.

They fight on the floor and Swerve runs Pac into the steel steps. They return to the ring and Swerve keeps up the pressure. Pac rolls to the floor and the doc checks on his foot or leg. Pac returns to the ring on one foot and Swerve kicks him down immediately. Swerve gets the stomp for the pin and the win.

Winner: Swerve Strickland

Another match that ended abruptly — no idea if it was a legit injury or storyline, but you’d think Swerve and Pac could go through at least two segments.

Ricochet and his team give a promo where Ricochet says he is the leader, and Lio Rush isn’t too sure about that. Will Ospreay and his team each talk about what they will do with the money.

We then get a hype video for the Owen Hart Women’s Tournament where each person gets a time to give a line or two about their upcoming matches.

Renee Paquette is in the back and tries to get a word with Page, who says he can’t prepare for a wild card, but he’s looking for the Bucks. Page sees Prince Nana and says he was NOT helping Swerve and Swerve needs to stay out of his business. Nana stops him and says he regrets what happened, and Page cuts him off.

Will Ospreay, Speedball Bailey, Mark Briscoe, and Kevin Knight vs. Ricochet, Mortos, and The Cru (Lio Rush and Action Andretti) – a $400,000 purse for the winner

Briscoe has been getting more TV time lately, and I am here for it. He cuts a great promo, every match he has is entertaining, and I will even put up with an 8-man tag to see him. A multi-man match — what do they think this is, NXT Stand and Deliver?

I kid, I kid.

I hate multi-man matches because most of the time they come off like a highlight reel rather than a match.

Ricochet and Speedball start, but Ricochet does a lap around the ring and tags in Mortos. Bailey flies around Mortos, and Ricochet’s story is that he tags in and then tags out immediately. Next up is Ospreay with Andretti, and he and Rush double-team Ospreay. It’s the time for all 8 men to get into the ring, with Ricochet hiding behind everyone before the fight starts. Ospreay’s team all get 10 in the corner on Ricochet’s team, and after Ricochet’s team is sent to the floor, we get a plethora of dives.

They do a great bit when Ricochet tries to dive into Ospreay’s team, but they dodge and then all give him a slap on the head as we go to picture-in-picture.

When we come back, it’s Speedball and Mortos, and Ricochet tags in and does some good heel work, again trying to pick the bones. This quickly moves to Knight and Cru fighting in the ring so they can show their speed and high spots. Next in is Ospreay and we’re right back to Speedball and Ricochet. Everyone gets a chance to work against Mortos until Ospreay gets the Oz Cutter on Mortos for the pin and the win.

Winners: Will Ospreay, Speedball Bailey, Mark Briscoe, and Kevin Knight

The crowd got to see all these guys do their stuff, but in the end, the only one who got anything out of it was Ricochet’s excellent heel work.

They recap FTR attacking Cope at Dynasty and we are told Cope is out indefinitely. Tony Schiavone gives a short editorial about how despicable FTR are.

MVP, Shelton Benjamin, and Bobby Lashley come to the ring to celebrate their Tag Team Title win. MVP says that chumps jump up to get beat down, and Big Bill and Bryan Keith get beat down. MVP leads them in a toast and MJF’s music hits.

MJF comes to the ring and stands with Shelton Benjamin. MJF then grabs a mic and talks as if he is part of the team. He says now he gets to cut the line for a title shot. MJF then asks what the initiation deal is, and Bobby cuts him off. He then says when MJF tried to help, he didn’t get the job done, so they don’t need him.

Bobby and MJF yell at each other, and MVP and Shelton step between them. MVP says to join, he needs three thumbs up. MVP puts a thumb up, Shelton does a thumb sideways and then turns it down, and Bobby thanks him.

Shelton and Bobby leave. MVP shrugs and leaves with them.

Renee is with Megan Bayne and Penelope Ford, and Ford says it was a taste of defeat but it changes nothing. She says that things are just going to get worse because Toni Storm barely survived. Megan then says on Collision, she will make you bow down after Ford issues an open challenge.

Toni Storm is on her way to the ring with Luther to be on commentary. She crawls over the other commentators to her seat before the match starts.

Thunder Rosa vs. Kris Statlander – Owen Hart Tournament match

They start with arm drags and shoulder tackles. Storm is hilarious on commentary and Taz can't deal with it. These two have worked with each other for ages, so they know how to put together a solid TV match. They use that in the match as each of them knows the other’s moves and how to dodge or counter them. After the commercial break, Rosa is in control and they move to running the ropes with Rosa getting a tijeras followed by a suplex for two.

From here they move to two counts as Storm talks about her Big Package. You know, the small package rollup. Statlander hits the Saturday Night Fever piledriver for the pin and the win.

Winner and moving on in the tournament: Kris Statlander

A solid TV match and Statlander goes to win by just overpowering Rosa. I do think they need to give Rosa a decent feud or a run of wins. She’s still loved by the crowd but seems to be just hanging in limbo the last few months.

In the back, Don Callis says that all signs point to Kyle Fletcher vs. Konosuke Takeshita being the final match in the Owen Hart tournament. He also says that due to injuries, the Don Callis Family is accepting applicants.

Then, we hear from Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly, and Roderick Strong in the back. Kyle says Cole winning the TNT title shows they are the elite in AEW. Strong says they need titles of their own. Cole then says that he has had an amazing comeback and this is a new era for the Undisputed Kingdom.

Chris Jericho comes to the ring all by himself and without the Ring of Honor Championship, but he does have his TV Time setup in the ring. He says on Sunday, he lost the match, a tooth, and his title, and he congratulates Bandido. Jericho says that Bandido won because of his family, and Jericho has his, so he calls out Big Bill and Bryan Keith. He hoped that all three of them would have championships, but Bill pushes Jericho’s hand down and grabs a mic of his own.

Bill says Jericho has every right to be angry, and he’s angry too. He says he has respect for Jericho and puts him over. He says that he did not sign up to be Jericho’s punching bag when things go wrong. So, if Jericho is going to teach, great, but if Jericho is going to berate them, tell him so he can leave.

Jericho says he didn’t bring them out to do that, and if they think that, they have a lot to learn. Jericho says they are future world champions, so their victories are his and their failures are his, but when he lost the title, they weren't there. Some might say it’s their fault he lost the title, but he isn’t saying that.

He’s not angry, he’s just disappointed.

He repeats it over and over as he takes a baseball bat to the TV screen and Jericho drops an F-bomb. He says until they change that, it’s best that he leaves. The crowd wishes Jericho farewell the way wrestling fans do — with a sing-along.

As he leaves we hear a fan VERY CLEARLY yell “Suck on a maple leaf!”

They recap the return of Anthony Bowens at Dynasty as they run down the upcoming cards.

Alicia Atout is with the Hurt Syndicate. Bobby Lashley doesn’t trust MJF and they don't need him. Shelton agrees but says that “Little George Costanza is kinda funny.” Bobby and Shelton leave.

MJF then comes in and tells Alicia to leave, and he asks if they know who he is. MVP says the problem is that they DO know who he is. MJF needs to do business. Find out what the customer needs and provide it.

We watch as Jericho leaves the building, taking a bat to things on his way out.

Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta vs. Samoa Joe and Hook

We have another Don Callis impersonator in the crowd and I am starting to think it’s a storyline thing, since the announcers are mentioning it every week.

This should be a good brawl between Joe and Claudio. Let’s hope they don’t have to cut the match short like the first two matches SEEMED to be.

We get Joe and Yuta to start the match and Yuta fires shots at Joe, and when Joe turns to get payback, Yuta bails from the ring. Yuta’s not getting the heat he normally does, but he’s working hard on in-ring stuff to get the crowd to hate him. Claudio tags in and Hook quickly tags in, and when Yuta tags in, the crowd pops for every suplex Hook subjects Yuta to.

Then we get Joe beating Yuta down. When Hook tags in, he and Yuta work into the picture-in-picture and Hook is the babyface in peril through the break. Hook has improved a lot over the last year or so, and he’s gotten a lot more in the way of moves and psychology. He has stopped coasting on charisma and suplexes and is becoming a good hand.

Joe doesn’t get the hot tag, but instead, Joe takes out Claudio and Hook grabs the Redrum, but Mox breaks it up and grabs a steel chair. Shibata pulls Mox away and locks in a rear naked choke. On the floor, Joe grabs one on Claudio and Hook grabs the Redrum on Yuta in the ring and Yuta passes out.

Winners: Samoa Joe and Hook

After the match, Shafir attacks Joe with the briefcase. They then set a chair upside down and Claudio hits a Neutralizer on the chair. Joe slides into the ring after that and drives off the Death Riders. The Opps vs. the Death Riders? OK.

Joe grabs a mic and says they came to the show for a fist fight and the Death Riders are acting like… well let’s just say Joe needs to drop some money in the swear jar. He then says they are coming for the Trios Championship.

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