April 6th, 2022
Boston, MA
AEW World Champion: Hangman Adam Page (since 11/13/21)
AEW World Tag Team Champions: Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus (since 1/5/22)
AEW Women’s World Champion: Thunder Rosa (since 3/16/22)
AEW TBS Champion: Jade Cargill (since 1/5/22)
AEW TNT Champion: Scorpio Sky (since 3/9/22)
Commentators - Excalibur, Jim Ross, & Tony Schiavone
Pyro blows off and the crowd goes nuts. We are live, motherfuckers.
1) Adam Cole vs. Christian Cage
First time ever meeting here. Christian seems to keep Cole from having too much of a case of NXT brain as his bad habits don’t take the forefront like the Lethal match did the other week. It felt like a 2013 Christian TV match which is not at all a bad thing. If anything, it was nostalgic. But even better because this crowd was hot as fuck. So, yeah. They work a good pace then hit some big nearfalls near the end that the crowd loses their shit for completely. In the end, Cole wins and I’ll let Tony tell the rest..
Match rating - ***
“The termites are out.” -Tony Schiavone
After the match, ReDragon runs down to attack Christian. Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus hit the ring to a huge pop to make the save. Hangman Page ends up coming out once everyone clears out to try and get his hands on Cole AND IT FUCKING RULES. He smushes Cole in the face and they go nose to nose. Page says if Cole wants a title match, he will get it on a live Rampage next week in Texas in a.. TEXAS DEATHMATCH. FUCKKK. Hanger just loves to bleed, man. I swear. This segment felt huge though. Hangman really continues to dig his teeth into his run as THE guy and he’s killing it.
2) Samoa Joe vs. Max Caster (w/ Anthony Bowens)
This was the most badass squash and debut for Joe. He hits all his signature moves with just as much flavor and stiffness as ever. Joe wins with the muscle BUSTAAAA.
Match rating - **3/4
After the match, Jay Lethal and Sonjay Dutt are backstage. Lethal says they aren’t gonna ruin his moment tonight like he ruined their’s at Supercard. Lethal says he’s been trying to contact Joe for months for advice, but Joe is a gold digger and only answers the phone for billionaires. Lethal says if he knew Joe was coming, he would’ve rolled out the red carpet for him. Sonjay says it’s not too late to do that so next week.. the student will give the teacher a present that he will never forget.
Backstage, William Regal is with his Blackpool Combat Club boys. He says he’s off his nut tonight. Regal says on Friday, Bryan Danielson will face Trent Beretta and Jon Moxley will face the ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta. Regal says Yuta has impressed him as well as Danielson, but now he has to impress Mox and that’s the hardest thing to do.
3) Shawn Spears vs. Shawn Dean
MJF joins the commentary booth for this one. It’s relatively short, thankfully, and we get Wardlow barreling through the backstage area despite being “fired” and banned. MJF starts screaming for someone to do their job and it’s HILARIOUS. All this commotion and Wardlow brawling with security allows Shawn Dean to sneak the victory. He is now 2-0 against the Pinnacle HAHAHAH.
Match rating - **1/4
The Best Friends are backstage. Wheeler Yuta looks like an actual king with the ROH Pure Championship on his shoulder. Chuck reminds Yuta he gave him a couch to sleep on and that they love him, but not how he’s acting. Trent gets in Yuta’s face and Yuta basically tells them both to fuck off.
Earlier tonight, Eddie Kingston, Santana, & Ortiz attacked Chris Jericho and Daniel Garcia. They ran them out of the building and shit. Commentary recaps it and soon enough, Eddie & the boys make their way to the ring and cut the craziest, but most organic promo in recent Dynamite memory. You literally feel Eddie getting more fired up as he paces the ring and by the end of it, you can feel his intensity through the screen as he motions to the crowd and says “I’m gonna FUCK HIM UP” in reference to Jericho. FUCK MAN. They challenged them to a six man next week in Louisana, but either way, they say it’s on sight whether they accept or not.
Jade Cargill is out next.. and she absolutely kills a promo. She says she’s tired of MMA losers coming into her ring. She says Marina Schafir might be the problem but SHES THE PROBLEM SOLVER. GO THE FUCK OFF QUEEN. Jade rules on the mic, it’s official after this.
MJF is backstage and he challenges “the military man” Shawn Dean to a match last week so he can give him a Purple Heart HOLY FUCK HAHAHAHAH. MJF has no chill.
4) The Butcher & The Blade vs. The Hardy’s (Matt & Jeff Hardy) - Tables Match
This was another crazy ass spot filled brawl. Jeff Hardy showed up to AEW to be an absolute lunatic and nothing less. To win, each member of each team had to go through a table so we got four table spots here, all of which ruled, and some great brawling in between. The Butcher & The Blade damn near kill Matt with a double suplex off the railing to the floor. Hardy hits a HUGE swanton off a ladder through two tables on the floor to win it. A little messy but good shit.
Match rating - **3/4
After the match, Andrade shows up with The Bunny & Private Party. Sting comes out to make the save before they can attack The Hardy’s.
Backstage, Christian Cage & Jurassic Express are up for an interview. Christian throws a bottle and storms off, seemingly frustrated by his loss earlier. Jungle Boy takes the reigns and challenges ReDragon to a title match next week on Dynamite even though they don’t deserve it.
Nyla Rose/Thunder Rosa video package airs. They face off for the Women’s Title at Battle of the Belts on Saturday, April 16th.
Backstage, Tony Schiavone is with Toni Storm and Jamie Hayter. Jamie gets some time to talk and it rules. They are the first two women qualified for the Women’s Owen Hart tournament. I hope these two lock up in the tourney.
5) Hikaru Shida vs. Julia Hart (w/ Varsity Blondes) - Owen Hart Tournament Qualifying Match
GOTH JULIA IS HERE YALL. And so is, Shida!!! Welcome back!!! This was fun. Julia fully turns on the Blondes? She tells them to leave ringside early on so she can go it alone and she more than holds her own in her first competitive featured Dynamite match. Shida wins with the Falcon Arrow after some back & forth to advance to the tournament.
Match rating - **1/2
After the match, Serena Deeb teases an attack on Hikaru Shida.
Backstage, Swerve Strickland talks about his weekend at the Grammy’s. Hobbs & Starks try to attack him, but Keith Lee runs in for the save aND POUNCES HOBBS THROUGH A WALL LMAO.
6) FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) (c) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) - ROH & AAA Tag Team Title Match
I mention it on this week’s Up and Over Podcast, but since that’s not released yet, I’ll throw it again here. FTR is officially on the run of their careers. After spurts of greatness and maybe some underwhelming moments, they’ve found their footing as stars and began resonating with the audience like never before. I’m no expert, but I speak as someone who couldn’t have given two shits about FTR until maybe 6 months ago? That’s when it started for me and I think that’s where it started for a lot of people. It’s hard to pinpoint what they began doing differently. At first, I thought it was just me, but the reactions they began getting, which culminated in tonight’s explosion, showed me that this was a universal feeling and not just one based on personal taste. FTR have always had a vision for themselves, but it never fully grabbed audiences and never fully grabbed me. One thing I think that it has to do with is the fact that we didn’t know much about them as individuals, but in recent months, we’ve learned a lot. Whether it be the Renee interview which stirred headlines or how FTR presented themselves on screen as “family first” men.. I, and seemingly thousands of others began to grip onto Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler and their vision of pro wrestling, in particular, tag team pro wrestling. As I watched their contest with The Briscoes this past weekend, I knew we were off to the races. That match fully flipped the switch. We are now on a roller coaster ride with Dax & Cash and man, it is so refreshing. This is the first time a tag team has grabbed an audience like this since.. who knows when? You could say Hangman & Kenny, but they were moreso individuals. If we’re talking outside of AEW, maybe since The New Day. This is a magical time to be a fan.
So, yeah. That all led us here to the second stop on this rollercoaster ride we are on. FTR jumped promotions and won the AAA titles, then they jumped promotions again and won the ROH Titles in a classic battle against The Briscoes. They found themselves and gained more confidence than ever. Now, they land here, in a match against arguably their greatest rival of all time. But a rival they’ve only had one chance to wrestle.. and they lost. If we really want to take things back, that loss may have just been what spawned all this. FTR came into AEW and won the titles, had some whatever matches, then they had their first meeting with the Bucks and while it was an awesome match.. they fell short in the biggest match and moment of their careers. Ever since then, everything they’ve done has led them back here. So, the stakes are high. FTR is the best tag team in the world right now.. but can they really say that until they have this match?
So, y’all.. they have it and boy oh boy. It’s everything that you could ask for. The crowd is molten hot for FTR. I mentioned all this before, but the momentum and atmosphere that created made this so special that it had to be mentioned again. I never thought I’d see an audience so behind FTR against the Bucks, but I also never thought I’d be behind FTR against the Bucks. But here we are and I cannot deny reality. Everything about this is phenomenal. From the entrances and throwing jackets at one another, to the match itself. The Bucks are cocky. They embarrassed FTR once and are fully prepared to ruin their big moment and run to the top. To match that, though, FTR is not intimidated. And they never were. They always believed in themselves, but now they can back it up AND they have the entire AEW fan base behind them. The Bucks were awesome at being flashy, extra, and full of themselves, as always. They were all about showing off and flying around, but FTR has been here before so they were able to go move for move when Nick & Matt wanted to up the speed of the match. This pushes Nick & Matt to cut off the ring and use cheap tactics to remain in control. They isolate Wheeler and we begin building to the best hot tag of the year from Dax Harwood.
Cash inches toward his partner and just as he leaps, NICK SUPERKICKS DAX OFF THE APRON. The breath is taken from the audience. But, moments later, when that hot tag finally connects, life is breathed back into the room and this match ascends to another level. In these closing moments, the Bucks are desperate and FTR is focused. The Bucks try everything and hit some good shit, but FTR will not die and cannot be shaken. A litany of big moves and nearfalls lead us down an organic drama filled final stretch. Every false finish counts. FTR kicks out of MBFYB AND The Big Rig from the Bucks. They even escape the BTE trigger. In the end, it’s a tombstone, pop up springboard powerbomb combo followed by a BTE TRIGGER OF THEIR OWN AND A KISS followed by the Big Rig that allows FTR to pin their ultimate rivals. What a finish. Avenging their loss from a year and a half ago, retaining their championships, and solidifying themselves even further. Stop #2 on the ride toward FTR proving themselves as TRULY one of the greatest tag teams of this generation is over. But there is plenty more to come. This match fucking ruled. I’ve talked enough. What a night.
Match rating - ****3/4
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