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AEW DYNAMITE BLOG

It is Wednesday and this week Dynamite is at the UNO Lakefront Arena in New Orleans, LA. The commentary team is Tony Schiavone, Taz, and Excalibur. 

Jon Moxley vs Jeff Hardy

Mox takes his time with his entrance and we get to see the four Luchadores who will be on Collision Saturday. This match feels like names were chosen from a hat, but Hardy has been given a lot of matches lately, and he’s slowly doing a heel turn. 

We are told that the rules are “relaxed” for this match, which means they quickly go to brawling on the floor around the ring. When  they get in the ring, Mox is just working over Hardy like it’s a squash match. 

Oh, and during the match, we’re told Tony Khan has a huge announcement next week.

As the match goes on, Jeff is just being tossed around by Mox, and is getting next to nothing in. They do a bit where Mox gets tossed into the Luchadores in the crowd, and they all yell at each other. Jeff’s comeback is cut off quickly as we go to picture in picture. When they return to full screen, Mox does a bit where he puts a pen in Hardy’s ear piercing and twists it.  After that spot, Hardy is able to take over, but Mox cuts him off with the hammer and anvil elbows.

We are given a bunch of hints that the “secret opponent” for Swerve Strickland tonight will be Rob Van Dam.

Hardy gets a final flurry of offense, and at the end, Hardy goes for a Swanton where he misses Mox, and he looks as if he just barely gets his rotation complete to land properly.  Mox locks on the rear naked choke and Hardy goes out.

Winner: Jon Moxley

Mox asks for a handshake afterwards and Hardy flips him the bird before heading up the ramp. The four Luchadors hop the rail and beat down Mox after the match.

Adam Page vs Toa Liona

Liona was picked to face Page by Swerve Strickland.

The announcers put over that Liona has never been pinned in solo action, and the match is a 50/50 match.  Liona works big power moves and Page is working on chopping him down. While Liona isn’t a Huge Monster, he does have the look and feel of a massive force, and I’m glad they are having him work the match that way. 

He’s my problem with the match, what does Swerve get if Leona wins, and what does Page get if he wins? They are in a feud to be the number one contender, so these matches should have some sort of consequences about that.  If not, then the people each are fighting should be trying to “injure” them to take them out of contention.  Instead, it’s just a wrestling match. Page wins with a crucifix roll up after Liona hits him with a power bomb.

Winner: Adam Page

Liona tries to get in the ring with a chair, but Page takes it away from him and sits in it as we go to the pretape of the Young Bucks showing up. 

The Bucks give a $500 fine to their driver who calls them Nick and Matt instead of their Birth Certificate names. 

The ring announcer messes up by calling Mardlow Mr. Wardlow, and then saying Wardlow, Mr. Mayhem.

Wardlow (with the Undisputed Kingdom) vs Komander w/Alex Ambrahantes

Adam Cole joins commentary

Is this a speed against power match?  No, it’s a squash for Cole to show off his new heel persona on commentary. Komander gets to show off his greatest hits before Wardlow gets to take over. When he goes for the power bomb symphony, The Kingdom tell him to take his time and hit another power move before power bombing Komander and grabbing the pin.

Winner: Wardlow

Roderick Strong grabs a mic and tells Komander he should have offered the deal he offered on Saturday, and they set up to beat him down. However, Orange Cassidy’s music hits, and Cassidy shows with the Best Friends to stop the attack.

Next is our first interview segment with Tony Schiavone with Big Bill and Ricky Starks talking to Sting and Darby Allin. Ricky says he respects Sting, but his journey in AEW started with him. Darby says that Ricky doesn’t respect Sting, and this is not a stepping stone. Ricky says he will retain the Tag Team titles, and he will get his win back on Sting. Big Bill says he is sick of listening to them run their mouths, and he is done being overlooked.

Sting and Darby both talk about how they are going to win, and Ricky pie faces Darby and both Bill and Sting hold back their partners.

Chris Jericho vs Kyle Fletcher

Jericho is back from his cruise and the boos seem to have gone away. 

Fletcher goes for a quick pin right out of the gate, and when they go to the outside, he goes after Don Callis, allowing Fletcher to attack from behind and keep control of the match. Jericho is working from underneath, and Jericho gets his offense in right  before the commercial break and then after it’s over. Hobbs cuts Jericho off while Callis distracts the ref. 

After that sequence, it becomes time for big moves and the match becomes more of a 50/50 affair. Fletcher looks really good in this match, and I hope this means they will be using him more than just part of the Callis crowd scenes. Jericho sells that he got knocked silly by one of Fletcher’s moves, but he still wins with a pair of Judas effects.

Winner: Chris Jericho

Konosuke Takeshita comes out after the match to staredown Jericho from the stage as they face each other next week.

We get a promo from Deonna Purrazzo talks about her former connection with Toni Storm.

Next, the Bang Bang Scissor Gang is out to give a promo and put over that they are together now. Bowens pulls out the Cardboard Jay White, and the Gunns say he has been fired and instead they have Cardboard Juice Robinson. They give catch phrases and that’s the whole thing. 

Toni Storm is out next for commentary with Luther and Mariah May. 

Deonna Purrazzo vs Taya Valkyrie w/Johnny TV

Toni says that Tony looks so much worse than he did last week, when she thought Ian Riccaboni was Tony. 

Taya has dyed her hair bright yellow and has new entrance gear.  She is also working heel as she starts pulling Deonna’s hair when they lock up. When the match moves to the outside, Johnny TV distracts Deonna so that Taya can track from behind and take over the match.

When they return from picture in picture, Deonna is in control and gets a series of two counts.  When Taya and Deonna go to the floor again, Deonna shoves Taya into Toni. Deonna rolls Taya into the ring for a submission.

Winner: Deonna Purrazzo.

REALLY weird match where you think they would be highlighting Taya’s new persona since it’s her first time back now that she and Johnny TV are going to be an on camera team, and she’s basically a tomato can for Deonna.

Renee is in the back and asks Darby about his admiration for the Young Bucks. The Bucks show up and they ask why he is letting a 65 years old leech (Sting) take money, and when Sting is gone, they have a new gimmick for him. They says that darby has been ducking them.  Darby says the only thing on his mind is the AEW Tag Team Championship. The Bucks say they will have to get his attention another way. 

Samoa Joe joins commentary.

Swerve Strickland vs Rob Van Dam (Adam Page’s surprise for him)

Page says that he has also chosen that the match will be a hard core match.

So, RVD tosses a chair and they brawl on the floor. RVD gets to toss Swerve around into barricades and then hits the big leg drop when they return to the ring. They aren’t in the ring long when RVD sets up for the leg drops onto Swerve on the barricade.  They brawl during the break, and when we come back, RVD is going through the greatest hits with Rolling Thunder, a running drop kick with a chair, and more. Unlike the Page match, Swerve is a selling machine for RVD. 

Brian Cage gets onto the apron to attack RVD, but Hook shows with a chair to chase Cage out of the ring with a pair of chair shots and they fight up the ramp and to the back. Joe actually cheers Hook for attacking Cage. From here we move to near falls. Swerve starts to take over and Joe has been cheering for RVD.

And yes, RVD is able to put Swerve through a table at ringside by knocking Swerve off the top. RVD goes for the 5 star frog splash, but Swerve gets out of the way. Swerve is able to get the Swerve Stomp for the pin and the win.

Winner: Swerve Strickland

I liked this match. A good way of using an older RVD, and Swerve eventually got the win as the young star beats the visiting legend after coming from behind.

Adam Page comes to the ring with a mic and says “Congratulations you evil bastard”. Page says he will never let Swerve fight for the title, and he is the next world champion. Swerve reminds Page he’s beaten him twice and Page is upset he can’t beat him. Page says that man to man, Swerve can’t lace his boots. Swerve says he will face him one more time and after that, they are done. 

Joe, on the other hand, is leaning back in his chair smiling as they will face each other next week and the winner faces Joe at Revolution.

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