IT’S WEDNESDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY NIGHT. YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS!
Heya folks! Long time no see! I feel like it’s been forever since we had an AEW Dynamite but it’s only been eight days somehow. At least we had AEW Dark this week to keep us entertained and our interest piqued in wrestling’s hottest company. By what metric, you ask? My metrics. Haha! Seriously though, I’m ready to dive in this week as we have our last off-day show and get back to live Wednesday shows this coming week. So hold onto your hats, we’re going to knock this out like 90s Mike Tyson would.
First, we start off with this segment, which…..isn’t wrestling and now I’m confused.
POP: Powerhouse Page
The wrestling portion of our wrestling show kicks off with Powerhouse Hobbs and Cowboy Adam Page. Let me just highlight Adam Page’s entrance. First, he comes out and yells, “OH, MOTHERFUCKER!” which is immediately followed up by Jim Ross saying, out loud, on a national TV show, “Well are you ready to get into some cowboy shiznit here tonight on Dynamite?” Taz and Tony immediately roast him for it so I’ll refrain here. I don’t have anything fun to say about Hobbs’ entrance so uhh…..here. Just watch it.
Early on in the match, Cowboy gets his licks in and takes advantage of Hobbs. He even attempts to nail Hobbs with the Buckshot Lariat pretty early. Hobbs ain’t no dummy though, y’all. He dives out of the way before Page can launch and avoids disaster. Speaking of how undumb your boy Hobbs is, he then spends the rest of the match targeting Page’s arm so he can’t hit the Buckshot Lariat. Smart wrestling, my friend.
Page mounts Hobbs in the corner and stops poppin’ him (like a little bit of the bubbly) in the face but Hobbs throws him off. Page charges Hobbs, who sidesteps him a la El Matador Tito Santana! They fight on the outside and Page is able to take command of the m atch again. After a slingshot crossbody on Hobbs, Page rolls him back into the ring and gets a two count off a moonsault. Hobbs gets the upperhand after, ahem, powering out of a german suplex attempt. He clotheslines Cowboy back to the Wild Westand lands a hammerlock body slam. Hobbs goes up to the second rope and misses the Chris Benoit Memorial Headbutt, which Page wisely rolls away from. He hits a weakened (non-Buckshot) Lariat for two.
Hook and Ricky Starks come out to give the FTW belt to Hobbs. Brian Cage runs out and stops this from happening. Cage chases Starks to the back and Hobbs hits a giant spinebuster for two. Page avoids a flying crossbody and is able to get Hobbs up on a deadlift German. Cowboy musters up enough energy to get Hobbs into position for the Dead Eye and he doesn’t miss. Page gets the three and probably some stitches from a cut on the back of his head.
This was a good starter match. I’m admittedly still a little shook by the fact we didn’t start with wrestling but at least the “talking” segment was less than a minute long. As for this match, I appreciate Team Taz’ continued attempts to take down the cowboy but what I appreciate even more than that is the interference didn’t play into the finish of the match. Not only that, it extended the Team Taz breakup story without having to a 30 minute tease segment. Good storytelling, boys.
We come back from a commercial break to find Brandon Cutler and the Young Bucks in a semi-trailer. Apparently, they are not scared of Eddie Kingston and Penta el Zero Miedo because they are EVPs – extremely violent people and Kingston and Penta aren’t even a team. Obviously, the Bucks don’t understand how best friends work. Maybe they should talk to Trent, Orange and Chuck. You too, Kris. You too.
Konnan and Tully going face to face in the ring was sort of surreal. Konnan is still amazing on the mic and boy, did he get after it. So watch that video above just for that. I don’t think it was any secret that it wasn’t Pride & Powerful coming out but I was shocked to see Konnan eat a spike piledriver. Wasn’t he almost dead two months ago? Konnan, for the love of God, please go easy, man. Please.
POP: Oh Glory, They’ll Fly Away
As Dante’ Martin hits the ring for his match with Matt Sydal, your favorite Guerrero and mine comes out to rain on the parade and make an announcement. Vickie introduces Andrade El Idolo while Martin is still in the ring. Before they can make their announcement, the Sydal brothers interrupt and walk past Vickie and Andrade. Potential foreshadowing as you can see El Idolo trying to go after Matt. Vickie doesn’t let him and they leave the ramp without making their announcement.
As you would expect, these two were operating at a higher speed and just cruising through their movesets. Even with a commercial break in the middle, they never stopped. No rest holds, just constant movement. Sydal did attempt to use brute force at one point, slamming Martin into the ringpost with a violent Irish whip. He then turned that into a modified bronco buster so at least the big man stuff didn’t last long. Especially since Sydal is smaller than Dante’ Martin.
After a quick bout on the outside, both men climb the top rope and Sydal chops him to the mat. Sydal hits a GIANT meteora but it only got a two count. Dante’ hits a sky high monkey flip for two and then a flipping stunner. That’s not even a replacement cuss word so my mother doesn’t have to read me swearing again, he actually did a flip into a stunner! Sydal avoids a top rope maneuver and hits the Lightning Spiral for the win!
This was a fun little match. It was exactly as expected though. Also, it was wrestling for the sake of wrestling so no complaints here. We don’t get to see either of these guys too terribly often so it was nice to see them getting some exposure. Dante’ Martin can surely jump though, can’t he? Every time he left his feet, it seems like he went an extra foot than a normal jump. Take note of that monkey flip and his top rope jump at the end of the match.
Marvez tracks down MJF, Wardlow and Spears in the back. MJF rails on the IWC for being pissed he beat up on Dean Malenko, which as you know from last week, I thought MJF was justified. You’ve got a friend in me, MJF! Anyway, the Inner Circle has heard enough and since they’re destined to fight forever, they brawl in the back and all the way to the ring. Before Jericho can get manhandled again, Sammy Guevara hits the ring and gets retribution on the Pinnacle, chasing them to the ramp and letting MJF know exactly what’s going to happen on Wednesday when they go one-on-one.
I don’t know about you, but I think Sammy could actually win. I know MJF is on a pretty decent singles streak but who better than Le Sex God, Sammy Guevara to end that streak. Granted, I have no hope that it’ll actually happen. I foresee some sort of shenanigans that cost Sammy the match but I guess if you’re going to fight forever, you have to have some balance.
Okay guys, it’s no secret I love Miro. But this God’s favorite champion bit is amazing. The fact that he thanked God for “keep making me powerful and my hot wife flexible.” That is just….damn, you Miro. Damn you forever. You’re the best. You’re number one. Clap, clap. Also, Brian Pillman, Jr is going to die.
POP: Bear Droppings
The Men of the Year come out for Ethan Page’s singles match against Bear Bronson from Bear Country. It should be noted this is Bear Bronson’s sixth singles match ever. Also, Ethan Page is on a 7 match winning streak in singles competition. Upper hand, perhaps?
Bronson and Page naturally start off with a collar and elbow tie up. In a surprise to no one, Bear Bronson is a smidge stronger than Ethan Page. He pushes him back to the corner and Page responds by punching him right in the mouth. It was not a good idea. The fellas o back and forth until Bronson knocks Page to the outside. He goes for a dive but Scorpio pushes Page out of the way and absolutely gets demolished by Bronson’s dive. Shortly thereafter, Sky recovers and helps Page throw the big man into the railing.
Unfortunately, Page can’t fight the entire match on the outside as they go in the ring and Bronson gets the upper hand on Page. Bronson hits him with the front and back lariats, which is awesome, and gives Page a one-handed spinebuster. Page kicks out after two and Bronson goes up top but Page catches him and hits a massive superplex. This would knock out a weaker man but Bronson luckily kicks out at two. Bronson takes advantage and heads up top but Sky distracts him again. With the ref’s attention overtaken by Boulder Bear beating up Scorpio, Page hits Bronson in the dick and gives him the Ego’s Edge for the three.
After the match, Page calls out sweet, sweet Darby Allin. He tells Darby that pinning him isn’t enough and that he’s going to be the nail in Darby’s coffin. He challenges Allin to a coffin match at Road Rager on July 7th in a coffin match. He’s serious!
This match was pretty good. Bronson showed some athletic ability that you wouldn’t expect from a guy that size. Scorpio interfered a couple of times but just enough to not be annoying. It definitely played into the finish but Page hitting the Ego’s Edge on Bronson made him look strong as hell and now we’re looking at a coffin match. That should be fun!
POP: Alien Sighting
Butcher joins Bunny at ringside for her match against everybody’s favorite alien, Kris Statlander. She didn’t come alone either, though, as Orange Cassidy is nonchalantly leaning against the apron in her corner. Bunny slips out of a rear waist lock and walks over Statlander. Bunny pisses off the alien by mocking the Boop finger (Really, I don’t know what else to call it). Statlander slams Bunny to the mat and hits a nice suplex. After Bunny slips out of a top rope maneuver, Statlander does a headstand on the rope, which promptly earns her a kick in the face and she tumbles to the outside.
Bunny decimates Statlander on the floor and rolls her back in the ring after a brief staredown with Cassidy. Inside the ropes, she controls the match during the commercial break. Statlander is able to hit a sitout death valley driver. She also scored a two count with a blue thunder bomb. Butcher jumps up on the apron and throws Bunny some brass knuckles. While the ref is yelling at Butcher, OC slides in and takes the knucks off of Bunny. Naturally, he puts them in a safe place (his pocket, you pervs) and Statlander hits the Big Bang Theory for the win. As Kris/Cass (jump, jump) celebrate in the ring, Butcher cheap shots them. Total Hybrid 2 come out to make it a three on one affair and Butcher reaches into Cassidy’s pocket, grabs the knucks and knocks him out with them.
POP: Saturday Night Mane Event
Look at all the glorious hair in this match. It’s beautiful. In addition to having great hair, Jungle Boy also has an awfully catchy theme. The crowd loves it and I’m definitely getting some Fandango vibes out of it. You can tell Jungle Boy loves it as he climbs the rope, closes his eyes and just soaks it in. Goosebumps. Oh yeah, Kenny Omega is here, too. Looks like he brought the Good Brothers and Don Callis out with him also. Hooray.
To start off the action, the referee throws out Jurassic Express and the Good Brothers. Callis leaves too, but he just goes to the announcer’s booth. Omega’s not a fan of this and pushes the ref, who immediately pushes him to the ground. That seems uncouth by both parties. Omega cinches ina n armbar early and does some real heel shit, slapping Jungle Jack in the back of the head over and over again. Jungle Boy responds with an arm drag and dropkick, sending Kenny to the floor below.
Omega throws Perry into the (Steel)Ringpost but Jungle Boy is able to slide through and crush Omega with a surprise shotgun dropkick. They drag themselves back into the ring. Jungle Boy takes the upperhand and hits a massive brainbuster on the champ. He knocks Kenny back to the outside and it’s suicida time! Wait, maybe I shouldn’t say it like that…Anyway, Tony sure seems excited. They have a nice exchange in the ring and Jungle Boy hits Kenny with a superkick. Kenny counters with a V-Trigger and a snapdragon. He goes for the One-Winged Angel but Jungle Boy is able to reverse it into a reverse hurricanrana for two.
Jungle Boy locks in the Snare Trap as the Good Brothers come back out. Jurassic Express fights them off before they get to the ring and The Elite Hunter, Frankie Kazarian, shows up out of nowhere to beat them to the back. Meanwhile, Omega breaks up the submission and is able to hit another V-Trigger. He can’t get a three so he goes for the One-Winged Angel again. Apparently, Jungle Boy watched some tape and slides out into a roll-up. Omega hits a V-Trigger in the corner and a Tiger Driver ’98 for another two count. He gets pissed and finally connects on the One-Winged Angel to retain the AEW World Championship, breaking hearts of not only fans everywhere but also of Jungle Boy’s family.
After the match, Omega attempts to hit Jungle Boy with the belt. Christian Cage runs in and interrupts the attack. He takes out Omega and instantly, the Matt Hardy Office interrupts. Cage is able to fight off Private Party. Hardy tries to hit a Twist of Fate but it’s countered into a Killswitch. Christian doesn’t see the Young Bucks slide in and as he turns for the Killswitch, the Young Bucks host a superkick party on Christian’s face. We fade to black with Hardy hitting the Twist of Fate on Christian and Omega standing tall in the middle of the ring!
Jungle Boy is championship material. No doubt about it. He looked like a hundred thousand million bucks in this one. It was a great TV championship match. I never doubted that Omega would win but man, the pop would’ve been huge had Jungle Boy pulled off the upset. Question of the week for all my misfits out there, do you think Jurassic Express is holding Jungle Boy back? Let me know in the comments or on Discord (link below!)
I would be remiss to ignore what happened after the show went off the air. Watch this and let me know what you think. Eddie Kingston is amazing. I’ve been onboard with AEW since day one (no ish about it) and hearing Eddie’s speech just makes me realize what a good decision maker I am haha. No for real though, it does make me feel tremendously blessed to be able to cover AEW for SRP because I am buying what he’s selling. That being said, hey Eddie, let’s catch a Yankees game. What do you say? Always shoot your shot, kids!
That’s it for this week’s Saturday Night Dynamite! We return to our regularly scheduled Wednesday programming this week! So be there! Enjoy your week everyone! Feel free to leave a comment below (good or bad, I’ll answer them all!) and share the column with your friends, family and followers. And seriously, join the Discord for good talk with good people. You can find me on there, Instagram or Twitter (all are @robbywardshow). Please hit me up with what you liked, what you hated, what you think I can change. I’m all ears! Wrestling united!
