AEW

Pops & Botches: AEW Dynamite – 07.21.2021

AEW Dynamite Fyter Fest News Pops & Botches Recaps & Reviews

 

IT’S WEDNESDAY NIGHT. YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS!

Heya folks! Last week at Smackdown 2005 Fyter Fest – Night One, Matt Hardy and Christian went one on one for the first time and Christian rose to the occasion to get the win! And did y’all catch AEW Dark last night? What a highly entertaining show! I think we really got something going here with this young upstart, AEW, you guys! Anyway, it’s been a long week. I’m ready to brew some fresh Suntea, sit back and and enjoy some non-sports entertainment in a wrestling ring. Here. We. Go.

POP: Labour Day

Your Demo God and mine, Chris Jericho, kicks off this week’s Dynamite with his first Labour of Jericho match. Also, this never gets old:

Shawn Spears is escorted out by Tully Blanchard and a chair. He’s the only one that can use it so it makes sense he would bring one with him. Jericho neutralizes the chair early so that Spears can’t use it. Spears is able to chop Jericho’s chest a beautiful shade of red but before he can get too big of an advantage, Jericho dumps him to the outside. Jericho, showing he’s the most versatile member on staff, shows the cameraman how to get the perfect shot before going back after Spears.

The chair finally becomes a factor when Spears tries to re-enter the ring. This gives Spears the opportunity to beat on Jericho for a good bit of time. In some great, long-term storytelling, he targets Jericho’s arm by wrapping it around the post and hitting it with a chair. MJF (on commentary) astutely reminds us that he has a pretty good Fujiwara armbar called The Salt of Earth that Jericho needs to worry about.

Spears bludgeons Jericho throughout most of the match but Jericho ducks a chair shot and locks in the Walls of Jericho! Tully distracts the ref, allowing Spears to smash Jericho in the face with the chair. The Spanish God, Sammy Guevara, chases Tully to the back just as Spears hits a C4. Jericho kicks out! As Spears goes for the C4 with a chair assist, Jericho drops out, throws him into a chair, hits Spears with the Judas Effect and has passed Labour Number One! MJF announces next week’s Labour of Jericho challenge. Jericho will go one on one in a No Disqualification match with NICK GAGE!

What a good match. Obviously, it’s coined as the first Labour of Jericho, which means he has to have at least two. So we know he was winning this one all along. The Nick Gage announcement at the end was unexpected and instantly has me ready for next week’s no-DQ match. Holy hell. This is how I want my wrestling show to kick off. Great wrestling in a show that I’m already invested in. Not only that, it built the story for next week’s show. AMAZING.

POP: Elite Target Practice

Correct me if I’m wrong but since ditching SCU and becoming The Elite Hunter, Frankie Kazarian seems to have a little more pep in his step:

He’s up next for a showdown with big Doc/Luke/whatever his name is Gallows but man is he bringing the energy. Kazarian wastes no time when the bells ring and just ambushes Gallows. Naturally, Gallows uses his strength to keep pushing Kazarian away. Frankie tries a top rope dropkick to no avail then immediately eats a big right boot from Gallows and the beatdown is on.

Gallows throws Kazarian around and out of the ring. In a surprise to nobody, Karl Anderson is down there and hits Frankie with a running clothesline. Gallows joins them on the floor and continues to beat Kazarian down throughout the entirety of a commercial break. Back in the ring and Frankie avoids a couple of clotheslines and gets big Doc down with a clothesline of his own. After a suplex and a slingshot leg drop, he can only muster a two count. He tries to lock in the Crossface Chicken Wing but Anderson wraps him up from behind. Gallows takes advantage with a roundhouse kick and in true Mortal Kombat style, finishes him.

After the match, Gallows and Anderson hit the Magic Killer on Kazarian, which brings out Don Callis and Kenny Omega. As they prepare to continue the attack, Hangman Adam Page’s music hits. The Cowboy comes down in Cowboys country, strutting to the ring in jeans and a beer in his hand. Like a good alcoholic, he hands Callis his beer and then promptly gets beat up by The Elite. Dark Order comes down to even the odds and Page crushes Anderson with a Buckshot Lariat to chase them from the ring!

POP: Wheelerin’ and Dealerin’

Wheeler Yuta earns a second chance on Dynamite and comes out to face this young kid who shows up to the ring with his Emo Dad. Darby’s ribs are all taped up after the beating he took in the Coffin Match last week against All Ego Ethan Page. Much like last week’s Wheeler Yuta match, this one was also fast paced and furious. Every time Darby throws a move, his ribs remind him he’s human.

Darby hits a massive superplex on Yuta, which incapacitates both men. And then in the AEW Dynamite Moment of the Year (yes, I’m calling it), this happened:

That chest beating like a gorilla though! Back to the match, Yuta tries his damndest to surprise Darby with multiple flash pins and although athletic and quick as hell, Darby is able to counter into a stunner. He goes up top and I think we all know what’s comin’ next! Darby drops the coffin on Yuta and gets the three count! After the match, Cassidy is checking on Yuta and The Blade cheap shots him from behind with the brass knuckles! How will Orange be able to fight him later on in the show?!?

Last week, I panned a Wheeler Yuta/Sammy Guevara match because there was no story and because he was facing Sammy Guevara, I never felt the match was in doubt. This time, Darby came into it seriously banged up. Well, it’s Darby Allin so at least he came in banged up enough that there was a possibility Yuta could win. And he almost did! But forget all that, the Sting and Orange Cassidy showdown was AMAZING. I’ve watched it at least fifty times. It’s hilarious!

POP: Women’s Title = DMDefended

My role model Britt Baker (DMD!) comes out for her FIRST defense of the AEW Women’s Championship against none other than Nyla Rose. Both Rebel (complete with crutch and knee brace) and Vickie Guerrero accompany their respective combatants to the ring. Please be careful, Rebel!

We start off with the Native Beast using her size and strength to gain the advantage early. She gorilla press slams Britt on her face and then hits a senton. She hangs Britt on the rope but Rebel pulls her down. Baker is able to throw Nyla into the middle rope but Nyla takes control again after countering a Discus Clothesline into a modified Rock Bottom. Britt rests in the corner, allowing her to avoid a cannonball from Rose. Baker goes for a backslide and the ref doesn’t count the three. Well, he waved his arm toward the mat twice then hit it on the third go around and the crowd audibly noticed.

Rebel puts the glove on Britt but Nyla jumps her before she can go for the LockJaw. Britt is able to lock it in, though Nyla powers out rather easily and hits a Death Valley Driver!  Nyla hits the top rope knee drop while Britt was hung over the rope but the champ kicks out at two. In a throwback to our dear Eddie, Rebel distracts the ref so Baker throws the title to Nyla then falls down and pretends to be knocked out. Vickie however, has seen this trick before and holds the ref’s leg long enough for Nyla to switch places! He doesn’t fall for it though so Nyla hits a Beast Bomb for two! She goes for a second one and Britt rolls through and cinches in the LockJaw to retain her championship!

I really enjoyed this match. It felt good to see the Women’s Championship defended and Britt Baker in the ring in general. Nyla Rose was a great challenger for Baker and the perfect choice for her first defense. They worked together really well and the size difference allowed some fun offense. The homage to Eddie was beautifully well done with that little twist. Killin’ it.

Andrade El Idolo announced his new Executive Consultant:

The Death Triangle comes out and yes, I said triangle, which means Rey Fenix is back! This segment was amazing. I don’t normally recap segments but the luchadores all arguing with each other in Spanish was great. Death Triangle gets on the ring apron and then inside once the refs try to hold them back. I look forward to this rivalry and what I assume to be the inevitable turn by Penta and Fenix on PAC. All of this because El Idolo wants them to work for him.

POP: Brass Knucky, that Funky Monkey

Bunny and The Blade come out. Unfortunately, Orange Cassidy doesn’t get his normal entrance. Apparently, he has just been hanging out at ringside since he got punched in the face earlier. He jumps The Blade to start off the match. The Blade wisely fakes ak nee injury and while Bryc Remsburg has Orange Cassidy in the corner, The Blade jumps up, runs over and kicks Orange Cassidy to get the upper hand. He gets Cassidy up on the rope and just absolutely dumps him with a powerbomb onto the turnbuckle! 

He keeps demolishing Orange Cassidy all over the ring. After a beautiful Lariat and Tombstone, The Blade still only manages a two count. Bunny gets on the apron to throw the brass knuckles to The Blade and Kris Statlander comes and pulls her down. The Blade misses the punch so Orange Cassidy goes for a punch of his own, Orange style. He misses though, too! Fortunately for him, he’s able to throw another quick one and connect for the one, two, three! Cassidy finds the brass knuckles after the match and wisely crushes The Blade with another Orange Punch, this one with the brass knuckles. The Blade is laid out!

POP: Texas Tough

There’s something about a Texas Death Math that makes everything seem so urgent. Maybe it’s the death part.  Who knows? “Wild Thing” hits and Moxley angrily stomps to the ring to defend his IWGP United States Championship against The Murderhawk Monster, Lance Archer. Of course, Moxley jumps Archer right away. The speed in this match is intense. The Death Match Duo heads into the audience and if I’m watching this correctly, Lance Archer throws a fan at Jon Moxley. Not a handheld fan that you cool off, a real-life human being from the front row!

Moxley is understandably pissed about being hit with a human so he gives Archer a Paradigm Shift on the exposed concrete at ringside. As one is wont to do, he channeled his inner Abdullah the Butcher (who didn’t have a partner named Abdullah the Blade) and tried to fork Archer to death. They fight back into the ring and Moxley introduces a trash can. Including the lid, which doesn’t bode well for Moxley. Honestly, you guys, I don’t know what to say about what happened next:

Archer sets up a couple of chairs to kill Moxley with the Blackout – a direct reference to their first death match – but Moxley slips out and punches Archer in the dick about it. He flips the chairs around so they’re back to back but Archer pops up and chokeslams Moxley on top of the chair backs and I think I slipped a disc in my own back watching it. Speaking of chokeslams, Moxley sets up a barbed wire table on the outside but before he can get back in, Archer stabs him in the face with the fork repeatedly. He then grabs Moxley and chokeslams him through the barbed wire table! Moxley can’t answer the bell and we have a NEW IWGP United States Champion!

Holy balls, you guys. That match was intense. My wife literally had to walk out of the room when Mox started eating Archer’s face like he was on some sort of bath salts. I was really hoping Jake would DDT Moxley and throw a snake on him just to recreate this moment:

Alas, it was not to be but my God, was this match violent, intense and downright action-packed. There was a lot of fork-based offense, which, as mentioned earlier, tapped into my Abdullah memory bank. For what it’s worth, I was terrified of Abdullah when I was a child. Those fork scars on his face still disturb me. That’s all for Fyter Fest 2021! That was one hell of an event!

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!

     

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