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It is Wednesday and Dynamite is in the Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, PA. Our commentary team is Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, and Nigel McGuinness.
We start with a video from Claudio Castagnoli, Pac, Marina Shafir and Jon Moxley talking about how they will bury his career at WrestleDream.
Will Ospreay (AEW International Champion) vs Ricochet
Following up on last week, Ospreay and Kyle Fletcher are backstage and Don Callis shows up and says they need to talk about last week. Ospreay says he has a match, and Callis tells Kyle they have a flight to catch. Is it a subtle joke that Kyle, who has been on the “can't win the big one” train is wearing a Chicago White Sox jacket?
Oddly, the announcers drop that AEW has a new contact with Warner in the commentary for this match almost like an afterthought.
As you would expect, the match starts with a lot of quick moves and high-flying. When they move to the floor, Ricochet gets a hurricanrana from off the barricade. If you are looking for them to tell a story in the ring, look elsewhere. This is a match where these two guys are putting on a spot show.
Holy Crap, a big ad for DC Comics’s new line of comics plugged during the match.
The crowd is loving the match as they move to big moves and two counts, and it reminds me of how Dynamite used to start with a big car crash spot fest match to start the show. Each man gets a poisonrana, Ospreay gets a big chop and both men drop, shoulders on the mat, and the Ref counts three on both men.
No winner: Draw
Ricochet both call for the match to be restarted. The referee and announcer call for the match to continue.
They go at each other, echoing the other's moves until Konosuke Takeshida hits the ring. First he takes out Ospreay and then Ricochet. Takeshita grabs the title belt and holds it up in the middle of the ring as the announcers remind us that he had been showing jealousy over Ospreay.
In the back, Mercedes Mone and Kamille are with Renee Paquette and says she has put together a montage of Dynamite’s best moments, which are all about her. MVP shows and gives Mone his card and says they should talk.
They follow this with an ad for DC Comics’ new line of graphic novels. Good for Warner’s for doing the synergy 5 years in…
The Gunns start a promo in the back with Renee and are attacked by Adam Page with a chair.
It’s now time for TV Time with Chris Jericho. Large William starts in the ring and says over the last 5 years, we have become better people because of Chris Jericho. Jericho comes to the ring with Bryan Keith. Jericho gets the city wrong as he starts his promo. He says he wants Mark Briscoe’s title and challenges him for a match at Wrestledream.
Mark Briscoe, Orange Cassidy, Kyle O’Reilly, and Rocky Romero come to the ring. Mark says his dad brought him up to be a man and men don’t make excuses. He says the only way Jericho pinned him was that Big Bill put him through a table first, but it was a tornado match so it was as legal as a wristlock. Jericho says Mark can’t beat Jericho, but maybe Jay could have done it. He says Mark will never be as good as Jay was.
Mark pops Jericho in the mush. He says at WrestleDream, Jericho will get a Briscoe style whuppin.
We get a video from Darby Allin, and he tells a story about being harassed by three guys on the back of the bus when he was younger and throwing down with them. He says it felt good to fight back, and he feels the same way about Moxley. He then issues an open challenge at WrestleDream to anyone because he has nothing left to lose.
The promos and vignettes are benign given more time, which I think has been desperately needed so that they have time to sink in rather than rushing to the next things at the fastest speed possible.
Adam Page vs Juice Robinson
Little thing I am noticing, they are no longer doing the “heel tunnel and babyface tunnel” and instead whoever comes out first comes out from the right side, and the second person comes from the left.
The announcers also say that Taz was attacked in the parking lot earlier today.
Page charges to the stage when Juice comes out and they brawl. Juice pulls out a leather strap from his jacket and he attacks Page with it. Page takes it from him and uses it on Juice. Page then tosses the strap to the crowd as they brawl through the crowd. Juice uses his belt and when they get into the ring, Juice starts to choke Page with it. The ref is able to take it away when Page turns the tables on Juice.
After the commercial break, it has moved to a wrestling match instead of a brawl, as they fight inside and outside the ring. They do a lot of high impact moves to each other. Juice cannonballs into Page through the barricade, followed a bit later with Page doing a fallaway toss into the bottom turnbuckle. Page gets a low blow mule kick when the ref can’t see, for the pin and the win.
Winner: Adam Page
Page takes off his belt and uses it to hang Juice over the top rope. We hear Jay White’s music and he hits the ring with a clothesline and beats Page out of the ring. Page tries to get away through the crowd, and White follows him and drives him through a table in the crowd.
In the back, Renee is in the back, waiting for The Jackwagon with Jack Perry. Katsuyori Shibata shows up and has his phone challenge him to a match at WrestleDream. Perry says he’ll think about it, walks off and then attacks him, knocking him into the Jackwagon and accepts.
We get a pre-tape from Bryan Danielson who says AEW has broken the wrestling system. He then says he faces Okada and tonight we find out who is the best.
Britt Baker comes to the ring with a massive Terrible Towel as this is her hometown.
Britt Baker vs Serena Deeb
They start with hold/counterhold work. We then see that Mariah May is watching at ringside. The match is what used to be a scientific wrestling match, and while Deeb is known for this style, Baker hasn't shown this ability often. I love this style, and the time before the commercial break has both women trying to find some sort of advantage, but they are too evenly matched.
We come back and Baker’s legs have been hurt by Deeb, and she moves to a more striking style of attack. Deeb keeps going after the leg and Baker looks for reversals. In her first few matches back, Baker has seemed a bit off, but this match is easily her best since returning, and both women are on point. Baker is able to get a lockjaw after an avalanche air raid crash from the top.
Winner: Britt Baker
Deeb attacks after the match and goes after Baker’s knee. Queen Aminata hits the ring and attacks Deeb, following up on their feud. Deeb bails and Aminata helps Baker to her feet.
Backstage Renee asks Hook about the attack on Taz, and Hook says if you mess with his family, he is coming for you.
We get a pre-tape from Christian Cage. He says that soon, he will have it all, Hook, Line, and Sinker.
In the back, Renee is with Mariah May and May says that Willow Nightingale is the definition of failing upward. Willow shows and gets in her face. They start fighting and they are pulled apart.
Private Party (Quen and Zay) vs The Already in the Ring Iron Savages (Bronson and Boulder)
Private Party has been the punching bag for Mox’s team, and the Iron Savages are the Job Squad, Private Party hits Gin and Juice after less than a minute for the pin and the win.
Winners: Private Party
After the match, they grab the mic and say that they will be the next tag team champions. The call for the Young Bucks to face them right here, right now.
The Bucks’ music hits and they are on the stage and they say you can’t have an anniversary show with the Bucks. They tease they will put the titles on the line because they have an overrun. But then they say they have limited dates and they won’t waste one of them in Pittsburgh. Jack Perry attacks Private Party from behind, and the Bucks join in the beat down, but Shjibata hits the ring and they bail.
Christopher Daniels shows and all six men will have a trios match on Rampage Friday night.
In the back, MVP is about to make his announcement, and Nana shows up and says people forget he used to be a wrestler. MVP says it sounds like Nana is complaining and he doesn’t handle complaints. His business partner does. And we see his partner is Shelton Benjamin. Shelton takes Nana’s coffee cup, takes a drink and says it’s good coffee before he leaves.
Bryan Danielson (AEW Champion) vs Kazuchika Okada (AEW Continental Champion) - Okada’s title is only on the line if the match ends before the 20 minute mark.
This is the kind of match that the crowd is cheering before they even lock up. They begin with hold/counterhold and go through a lot of the basics to start building the foundation for their match. We have been told there will be a “substantial” overrun, so they will be given time to build to the finish. The announcers put over the fact that Okada is stalling in order to retain his title.
After the first commercial break, the moves start getting bigger and hit harder. Okada’s facial expressions whenever he gets a move of reversdal on Bryan are fantastic. When watching his matches, he tells a story about the match with hsi facial expressions better than almost everyone in the business. The match moves to the floor and Okada is dominating for most of it, and the ringside fans are chanting for Okada. Bryan is able to reverse the momentum and they go into the ring.
They go back and forth with near falls as we get close to the 20 minute mark. Bryan puts Okada in the Labell lock at the 19 minute mark and Okada gets to the ropes with 30 seconds left. Okada falls out of the ring and the 20 minute mark passes.
After the second commercial break (and twenty minutes past the hour) both men are down and struggling to get up. Bryan is in control, and whenever Okada gets an attack, Bryan is able to recover immediately. It’s mostly kicks and strikes from Bryan at this point, and the pace has picked up. Okada hits a Rainmaker after dodging a charge from Bryan. This moves to a lot of strikes and then using each other’s finishers.
As Okada is hitting a series of short arm clotheslines, Claudio, Pac, and Mox show up in the crowd. It distracts Oakada and Bryan is able to get a backslide for the pin and the win.
Winner and still AEW Champion: Bryan Danielson
Okada nails Bryan with a rainmaker before bailing on going up the ramp.
Claudio and Pac hit the ring and hold Bryan. Mox says this is not about him, it’s about something bigger and he is forced to do this. Yuta hits the ring with a hammer to drive them off, but Mox gets in the ring and faces off with Yuta. As they are facing off, Bryan attacks Mox, and Claudio gets back in the ring. Mox and Claudio are chased from the ring again.
Yuta says he is sick of being treated like a child. He can make his own decisions and fight his own fights. He says next week, if they want to get to Bryan Danielson, they’ll need to go through him too. So, next week, it’s Bryan and Yuta vs Pac and Claudio.
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