AEW: Dynamite (Road Rager) Review - July 7th, 2021

AEW Dynamite

Road Rager

July 7th, 2021

Miami, Florida 

                                                     “COWBOY SHIZNIT.” -Jim Ross

We’re live outside of Daily’s Place for the first time in over a year and it feels GOOD. 

1) Cody Rhodes vs. QT Marshall - Strap Match 

Glad they are opening with this instead of trying to have it go on last. QT gets some color and they work the stipulation well. They don’t go overboard and treat this like some sort of epic rivalry that we all know it isn’t so that’s nice. Just simple, to the point and pretty inoffensive. Crowd is hot for Cody so the dive he hit to start and all his spots down the stretch came off well. The lights go out accidentally at one point and I think everyone thought something big was about to happen but it didn’t. Cody gets the win by touching all four corners after about 10 minutes or so. 

Match rating - **1/2

Backstage, Sammy Guevara gets revenge on Shawn Spears from last week by attacking him with a chair from behind and saying “GOTCHA BITCH!” 

Tony Schiavone brings out AEW World Champion Kenny Omega and Don Callis. Callis continues what he was saying last week about how Omega has beaten everyone. Crowd chants loudly for Hangman Page. Dark Order shows up. Evil Uno continues to be such a tremendous promo and takes the lead here asking Omega why he’s ignoring the crowd, why he’s ignoring the #1 ranked wrestler, and why he’s ignoring his friend. 

“What’s the capital of Thailand, Uno? Bangkok.” -Kenny Omega

Omega ends up crotching Uno with the quote above as the lead in. Anderson & Gallows show up with Nakazawa and attack the rest of the Dark Order on the ramp. HANGMAN PAGE MUSIC HITS AND HOLY HELL THE PLACE ERUPTS. Page cleans house on the Good Brothers then approaches the apron in position for the buckshot lariat as Omega is staggering to his feet. It’s just a tease, though, they come face to face and the crowd is molten hot. Karl Anderson hops back on the apron as a distraction to allow Omega to escape the ring. Awesome segment, this crowd is ready for Page to become champion. 

JR’s sit down interview with Ethan Page & Darby Allin is next and it’s fantastic work from both guys. I believe segments like these speak best for itself so just go youtube this later! The coffin match between the two happens next week in Austin, TX! 

2) Inner Circle (Santana, Ortiz, & Jake Hager) (w/ Konnan) vs. The Pinnacle (Wardlow & FTR) 

I’ll be honest, I was busy buzzing about the Omega/Hangman segment for most of this. It’s a decent trios match, though. They don’t go ballistic or anything. Everyone gets their shit in, though. Hager & Wardlow have a nice closing showdown before FTR gets the win for their team. Konnan confronts them post match, but gets laid out.

Match rating - **3/4

JON MOXLEY RETURNS NEXT WEEK TO DEFEND THE IWGP US TITLE AGAINST KARL ANDERSON HOLY FUCUKKK. Great Machine Gun promo and stuff yes, can’t wait for that. 

“Y2J died a long time ago…” -Chris Jericho 

Jericho was on point tonight. Here we have his face to face segment with MJF where they just talk shit to each other for 7 or 8 minutes. Jericho throws out an “I banged your mom” joke and it’s so bad that it’s hilarious. Crowd is hot for Jericho even after the comment he made about their Y2J chant. ALSO how could I forgot, some fan tried to jump in the ring and go after MJF. Pretty hilarious. Jericho swats at him as security hauls him off, only later to say “I should have let that fat bastard kick your ass.” This was all good ol fun. Nice to have full crowds back to react to all the banter in segments like these. 

In a backstage segment, AEW Women's World Champion Britt Baker complains about Nyla Rosa and makes a blood money/Saudia Arabia joke in regards to Vickie Guerrero bringing in Andrade and getting rewarded for it by Tony Khan. Pretty standard great stuff from our women's champ.. AS ALWAYS. We worship Britt in this house. 

3) Andrade El Idolo vs. Matt Sydal 

Man, I’m torn on this. Part of me thinks this was a blast. Andrade blasts off some sick spots, like the double moonsault and Sydal hits a fantastic meteora. On the other hand, they both seemed off a step or two the whole match leaving a bit to be desired in a match many including myself deemed a dream match. The big negative remains the fact that Andrade is paired with Vickie and booked as a heel, but gets the babyface reactions like we knew he would. He’s a star. Let him be a star. Drop the baggage and frills, he don’t need it. Andrade wins after a very competitive match with the #5 ranked Matt Sydal.

Match rating - **3/4 

Next week, Christian and Matt Hardy face off. They air a pre-tape to hype it. 

Meanwhile, Tony Schiavone is with Arn Anderson in the ring for an interview. The lights go out. (On purpose this timE BAAHEYEI WAIT IT.. ITS.. TOMMY ENDDDDDFF. The former Aleister Black who supposedly could not compete anywhere for another 2 months due to his contract release no compete clause.. hes.. here.. whag the fuck. This was the first true surprise in a while on Dynamite that delivered. End, going under the name Malakai Black, as noted by the video he released on social media earlier in the day that none of us knew was gonna come to fruition here on this night, kicks Arn’s head off then Cody Rhodes shows up and gets one too. Crowd goes bananas and holy fucking moly. 

Earlier before the show, Ricky Starks came out with hired security of his own. He makes a comment about Brian Cage's wife and obv Cage runs down after him. They face off next week for the FTW Title as the dissension in Team Taz continues. 

4) Orange Cassidy & Kris Statlander vs. The Blade & The Bunny 

“She’s the type that would try to run over here and take us out.” -Tony Schiavone on The Bunny 

One of the things I love about AEW is matches like this. An undercard, cool down match that is still such a joy to watch because everyone in here is just plain great at what they do. Aubrey Edwards finds brass knucks when she's patting down Blade. Bunny gets in Orange's face to start and this is just a BLAST MAAAN. They throw in some spots you wouldn't expect down the stretch like a german off the top rope before Kris finishes the Bunny off for the three count. Orange and Kris celebrate. GOTTA GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT.

Match rating - **3/4

Dan Lambert and some of his MMA dudes are here in attendance. Lambert starts cutting a promo about how wrestling isn’t what it used to be and that AEW sucks and shit. Lance Archer comes out and clobbers him. Some saw no point in this, to me, the point was clear. Give Archer something cool to do that makes him look strong - beating someone up who’s talking shit about wrestling. Why so serious? 

5) The Young Bucks (c) vs. Eddie Kingston & Penta El Zero M - AEW World Tag Team Title Match 

This is another match that I had a fucking blast watching only to see some discourse online about it afterwards. I know it’s part of their schtick, but when the Bucks say people will appreciate them more when they’re gone, I fully believe it. They give us matches of this quality almost every week on free television, yet some find something to complain about. SURE, there’s loads of garbage weapons and overbooking, but it’s well executed (the weapon spots, the overbooking could be broken down into a matter of taste/opinion) and it’s a hoot to watch unfold. Plus, all the characters are so phenomenal in their role. Eddie looked so fucking cool as always and was the most over person in the match. Penta hasn’t been as much of the focus as he was at the start of the promotion, but everyone still pops for all his stuff and the Bucks.. I mean cmon, they’re on the run of a lifetime being shit eaters so yeah. This was a street fight and felt reminiscent of all the Bucks old PWG stipulation matches that everyone used to love. They even stuffed thumbtacks into Eddie’s mouth and super kicked him in the face Candice LeRae style. Not to mention Matt throwing a handful of tacks carelessly at Eddie beforehand, slinging them into the front row in the process. This was just pure chaos. The Bucks retain after a bunch of shenanigans. 

Match rating - ****