October 27th, 2021
Boston, Massachusetts
1) CM Punk vs. Bobby Fish
I had a feeling they may kick things off with this match. And I’m not complaining. I haven’t posted my review of last weeks show yet because I am so fucking behind, but I oddly loved last week’s angle with Punk saving Anthony Greene from a post match assault with Bobby Fish. It felt big, it felt hype. However, as has been discussed, Bobby Fish’s entire run in AEW has been mind boggling. They’ve been booking him week in and week out in top matches like he’s a Punk or Danielson when he is not at all. Not that he is bad.. but god almighty, I truly don’t get the hype. With that in mind, last week felt exciting, but Bobby Fish as a singles wrestler has a ceiling and that ceiling is ***-***1/4 matches which is exactly what we got here. It’s fine, Punk’s selling rules and their strike exchanges are good. However, it’s definitely my least favorite match since Punk’s return. I don’t like to harp on negatives though so the positive is PUNKS FIRST MATCH ON DYNAMITE, awesome leg work, andddd yeah. Punk wins with the GTS. Finish is kinda weird as Fish kicks out like right at 3. Even if that wasn’t the planned finish I fucking am so glad it happened because Fish being the first person to kick out of the GTS since Punk returning would’ve hurt me deeply.
Match rating - **3/4
MJF squashes a local and says he does what he does best which is “pinning shoulders to mats and banging rats” oh… wow. Lots of shit talking from MJF as usual and it rocks. They do a gag where Sting’s music hits, but then they bust out laughing and call everyone in Boston stupid. The lights go out and MJF says “Nice one, Shawn” and Spears responds “that wasn’t me man” and a video plays on the screen. Lights come back on Sting smashes Spears with the bat along with Wardlow. MJF runs out of the ring anD DARBY IS DISGUISED IN THE CROWD. HE RIPS OFF HIS MASK AND JACKET AND GOES AFRER MJF. MJF runs like a full chicken shit up the ramp fast as hell. Meanwhile, Spears and Wardlow take a beating. Darby brings out a thumbtack covered skateboard and smashes Wardlow with it which it actually turned out sick as you could see the tacks sticking in Wardlow’s dress shirt. Love it. Darby gets the mic and says….
“HEY MAX… FULL GEAR.”
LETS GOOOOO.?
Backstage, Tony Schiavone is with AEW Women’s Champion Britt Baker, Rebel, & Jamie Hayter. Apparently Britt lost to Abadon on the Jericho Cruise so on the Halloween edition of Rampage, she has to defend the title against her in a Trick or Treat No DQ match.. lord Jesus.
2) Sammy Guevara (c) vs. Ethan Page - AEW TNT Title Match
Man. When this started I was riled up. Fiery start with Guevara jumping Page. Dives and brawling around the outside. Then this just got dumb.. and dumber. Sammy hit some cool stuff. That’s about all there is to this. Page hits a weird ass shoulder tackle and Guevara sells it like death and goes flying. Page goes for Ego’s Edge off the top, Sammy hits a hurricanrana out of it. Guevara wins with a… jackknife pin. Goodness. All that for a jack knife. NOT EVERYONE NEEDS TO BE PROTECTED THIS DEARLY.
Match rating - **
Post match assault from Scorpio & Page. Jericho and the Inner Circle get music and pyro during their entrance for the save. They announce per the stip of this match that Sammy wants a 5 on 5 Inner Circle vs American Top Team/Men of the Year. Minneapolis Street Fight at Full Gear. Jericho cuts a promo with a bunch of puns and stuff. Not one of the good ones, though. One of the ones where you remember it’s 2021 and Jericho is 50 something years old. Yikes. Match should be fun, but truthfully burnt on Inner Circle 10 man’s with crazy stips.
Backstage, Danielson and Eddie Kingston have another good segment to build off their one from Dark which ruled. I cannot wait to see them beat the shit out of each other on Friday.
3) Hikaru Shida vs. Serena Deeb - TBS Title Tournament Match
This is a first round match in the TBS Title Tournament, but also has some backstory with Serena Deeb costing Shida her 50th win on Dynamite a few weeks ago. This made for a pretty intense match that built very nicely into a fiery ass contest that had the crowd chanting “this is awesome.” The finish I didn’t care for as we got yet another indecisive, cradle finish. Something this promotion does far too often and this makes two tonight. Deeb attacks Shida post match and security and Jerry Lynn have to get her to chill out. I guess this means this angle is gonna continue and that’s fine by me! Third rubber match at Full Gear?? PLS. They deserve it.
Match rating - ***1/2
Backstage, the Lucha Bros put out a challenge to FTR for Full Gear and say they will put their AEW Tag Titles up for grabs.
Mike Sydal is injured so no Lio/Dante v Sydal Bros tonight. However, Dante will face Matt Sydal on Rampage and Lio Rush says the third time will be the charm.
4) Jon Moxley vs. 10 - World Title Eliminator Tournament Match
Mox shows up. Mox destroys 10. German suplex. Posts him. Rips off his mask. Bites him. 10 bleeds. Mox kills. This was fucking amazing. I love you, Jon.
Match rating - ***1/4
Backstage, FTR responds to the Lucha Bros challenge from earlier for Full Gear and they accept.
Cody Rhodes is out next with Arn Anderson. He cuts a weird promo on how he won’t turn heel and he also won’t pull a Triple H and hit a pedigree and book himself to win the World Title. Andrade El Idolo interrupts and good god I never thought I’d be excited to hear him talk, but I was here and he actually did well. He makes fun of Cody’s tattoo and says he will make him his little bitch. Lights out and Malakai is here. Malakai & Andrade attack Cody which sets up for the PAC save. Really awesome segment and this angle… whatever it is, is super fun. A tag match at Full Gear that gets 20 minutes is something I wouldn’t be opposed to.
5) Kenny Omega, Adam Cole, & The Young Bucks vs. Evil Uno, Stu Grayson, John Silver, & Colt Cabana
People are either gonna love or hate this. I loved it. I feel like it’s the type of niche thing that only AEW can pull off and it not be stupid, corny, or too much. Not everything has to be serious, especially on a SORT OF Halloween themed episode. And despite all the shenanigans, I feel like they still built well toward the Omega/Hangman match. PLUS Dark Order finally get a win over The Elite and we finally see the Elite take a loss which definitely popped the crowd hard. Hell yeah.
Match rating - ***
Final thoughts: Interesting show this week. The first hour was largely missable outside of the MJF segment. The second hour was good and helped make up for such an uninteresting first hour of television. Lots of matches set up for Full Gear and some good progress made in both tournaments. All in all, still an enjoyable time despite the low points. I’m so glad Dynamite is back on Wednesday!
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