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AEW DYNAMITE BLOG

It is Wednesday and AEW Dynamite is held at Save Mart Center in Fresno, CA. Our commentary team is Excalibur, Taz, and Tony Schiavone. And I am back on blogging duty, so more opinion and less play by play from me as Anthony Pires is back at full strength.

Kenny Omega, the NEW International Champion, is here to address the crowd. Kenny says that he was concerned he might not ever wrestle again, but not only is he back, he’s the International Champion. He thanks a lot of people, including his new friend Will Ospreay. He then thanks Takeshita for pushing him harder than he could have imagined. He then says of the upcoming tournament for a shot at his title, he wants it because he wants to face the best on the planet. 

As Kenny leaves, The Opps come to the ring and Kenny and Shibata have a stare-down.

The Opps (Samoa Joe, Hook, and Katsuyori Shibata) vs The Already In The Ring And Impressive How They Got There So Quickly Vinny Pacifico, Eli Theseus, and Gabriel Aeros

Everyone gets a bit of ring time and The Opps get to show their moves before Shibata gets a pin after a sleeper and a PK for the pin and the win. 

Winners: The Opps

Weird to start the show with a squash. “It’s a bold strategy, we’ll see how it works out for them” comes immediately to mind. 

Ricochet is backstage and he got screwed at Revolution and he didn’t want the robe anyway. He does like how the International Championship looks, so he has entered the Tournament, and he gives Shibata the option to give up before their match Saturday. 

We then get a video of Swerve Strickland after Revolution and he says he wants to challenge for the AEW Championship at Dynasty. Cope shows up and he says he didn’t lose tonight, so he might be facing Cope at Dynasty. 

We see Mox giving a promo and he says that it’s ironic that Cope, the world’s greatest opportunist, is upset that Mox was able to save his championship by pinning Christian Cage. He says that what Cope is made of is rare, but if he is complaining about the rules, he can take the rules and they will fight without rules. 

Hologram and Powerhouse Hobbs w/Harleygram vs Brian Cage and Dralistico

Where’s Lance Archer?

Hobbs and Cage fight on the floor as Hologram and Dralistico fight in the ring. Hobbs and Cage finally go to their corners and get on the apron as Hologram And Dralistico trade a lot of quick covers and arm drags. Dralistico is going for Hologram’s mask to follow up on their last time fighting. Cage tags in and after being sent to the floor, Hologram dives into Cage, who catches him and turns it into a suplex. 

Mortos shows at ringside during the break and pretty much everything we see before and then after the break is Hologram and Dralistico. Hobbs finally tags in and destroys Dralistico and Cage finally tags in. We only get a short hoss fight since as soon as Cage is down, Dralistico gets in the ring and he and Hologram gets a few moves in. Cage gets a suplex front he second rope, bringing Hobbs into the ring the hard way. 

Dralistico gets slammed until Cage comes into the ring and it’s time for Hologram and Hobbs to do some double team moves. We are getting entirely too much of Dralistico vs Hobbs. Hobbs finally gets a spinebuster on Dralistico for the pin and the win.

Winner: Hologram and Powerhouse Hobbs

Not nearly enough Harleygram shenanigans.

Lance Archer and Mark Davis come out to yell at Hobbs.

Alicia Atout interviews the Hurt Syndicate after Revolution, and Bobby Lashely wants to know who is next. MVP says they fight hard and now it is time to play hard. 

Next is a recap of the feud between Toni Storm and Mariah May. I loved this video as it told the story of the feud and then had the high spots from their match at the pay per view.

Toni Storm comes to the stage for her spotlight speech. She says it is time for a new beginning, the locker room is the best in wrestling, As she gives her promo, they do some excellent camerawork, that seems cinematic rather than TV. 

As soon as she is done, Megan Bayne attacks her and stands tall over her.

The Beast Mortos vs Speedball Mike Bailey - International Championship Tournament match

Bailey was a wildcard, so this is his in-ring premiere for AEW. I am looking forward to him in AEW after his time in TNA and his work during WrestleMania Weeks, where he does more indie shows than any other performer the last two years.

Bailey shows his speed in the ring, but once the brawl goes to the floor, Mortos takes over and beats him down. Bailey works his way back with kicks and strikes. Mortos takes control during the picture in picture, but Bailey starts with big moves and near falls when we come back to picture in picture. 

Mortos starts with power moves for his two counts and Bailey is able to receiver and deliver moves of his own. Excalibur sells Bailey’s Ultimo Weapon through the whole match, but Bailey wins with a standard kick to Mortos’s head, the pin, and the win.

Winner and moving on: Speedball Mike Bailey

Christian Cage is NOT going to talk to Renee Paquette because she is related to Jon Moxley. He says the contract was not used in a valid way since it was supposed to be a one on one match with Cope and Mox didn’t choke him out, he was holding his breath.

Nick Wayne says Cage is lying and he didn’t follow the plan. Cage then pushes him, tells Mother Wayne to back off or she’ll be back to working the overnight shift at Waffle House. He then dresses down Nick and mocks his DEAD father. He tells Nick to shut his mouth and keep riding his coattails.

We see that MJF did not want to talk to Lexi Nair on Sunday after Revolution, but he comes to the ring to talk to us now. He has a headache and his hand hurts, but what hurts the most is that he had the match won on Sunday, but the cowboy cheap shotted him for a tainted victory. MJF then says he is ten times smarter than Adam Page and his fans and it ain’t over between them.

MVP’s music hits and he comes to the ring. He and MJF go face to face. They hug and MVP says he has some things to tell MJF. He is proud of MJF and gives his history with MJF. He says MJF drove him to a movie and the only thing he charged was asking MVP questions. He puts over how smart MJF was. MVP says that MJF has lost his way, and the Hurt Syndicate can help him and make people fear him again. 

MVP says his business card is a golden ticket to change his career, and maybe it’s time for them to talk about some business. MJF says he respects MVP, but he doesn’t need his help or advice. He was the world champion for 406 consecutive days. 

MVP says the focus is on the word Was. 

MJF takes the business card and MVP leaves the ring.

Max Caster is in the ring and cuts a promo about how great he is and tries to get over his way too long chant. 

Max Caster vs Konosuke Takeshita

Max mouths his displeasure with words Mike Johnson would censor if I typed them. Max says he isn't here to fight because Max would kill him, and instead he must be here to invite him into the Don Callis Family. Max says he could do what Kateshita couldn't do, beat Kenny Omega. 

Takeshita drops him, covers Max for two and then wakes him up and hits him with Burning Fire for the pin and the win.

Winner: Konosuke Takeshita

Max Caster as a clueless goof works for me. And him getting beat up every week works for me as well.

We get a video recap of Chris Jericho beating down Gravity and taking his mask. Jericho cuts a promo in the back to Bandido about how he terrified his family while beating down his brother Gravity. They are going to continue the feud as Jericho pushes that he is done being taken advantage of. None of the “Hi guys!” stuff in this one. 

Willow Nightingale vs Penelope Ford

This match is a re-introduction of Willow after being away from TV for a while. The announcers talk about how Ford and Kris Statlander have had issues as well as that Statlander wants to reconnect with Willow.

Stokely Hathaway has been wished away to the cornfield, hasn’t he? 

Willow wins with the pounce in a decent TV match where each woman got to show their roles. 

Winner: Willow Nightingale

After the match, Ford attacks Willow with a chair and we get Kris Statlander running to the ring for the save. As Statlander and Willow start to talk, Megan Bayne hits a double clothesline on them and then hits a F5 on Statlander before standing tall in the middle of the ring.

Renee has her segment with Mercedes Mone, and Mone can’t talk loudly because she was kicked in the throat. Billie Starkz joins at Mone’s request. Starkz says that Mone has accomplished a lot, and then lists her accomplishments. Starkz says that Money changes everything, and she is looking for a change, so she is challenging Mone to a match next week. Mone agrees to the match.

Tony Schiavone is in the ring to speak to Will Ospreay.

Ospreay says he’s beat up but still standing. Ospreay talks about lying to his wife by telling her he wouldn't do anything stupid off the cage. Fun little story. Ospreay teases that he will be in the main event at All In in Texas. He goes over all the people he could be facing for the World Champion and gives a rah rah speech. 

It’s way past time to put Ospreay on top, IMHO.

In the back, Renee is with Jay White who congratulates Ospreay on his victory and says they need to keep Ospreay away from him if he wants to be in the main event.  White then asks if people think he hit Cope on Purpose and he tells them he did not. He said he would have Cope back and he failed. He then says that Swerve should not be able to take him place as the number one contender.

Renee is walking with Adam Page and MJF interrupts them. Page says that he didn’t believe MJF wanted to set him on fire and Sunday he cared about what people think about him. MJF says he is going to call Page’s bluff, and what happens next is he goes on to a great career, and Page will claw his way to the top and tumble all the way down again. 

Hechicero vs Orange Cassidy - International Championship Tournament match

This match starts at 1 minute until the hour. Jim Ross joins commentary. 

Hechicero and Cassidy play to each other’s strengths to start off and Cassidy gets to do some of his shenanigans. Cassidy even gets a rollup with his hands in his pockets. Hechicero takes over with power moves through the picture in picture. Hechicero works over Cassidy’s right leg after working the arm through the break to completely neutralize the Orange Punch. 

Cassidy does a kip up but can’t get to his feet as his leg gives out. Cassidy tries an elbow drop, but Hechicero captures the arm and keeps working on it. Hechicero keeps blocking Cassidy’s big moves, but Cassidy is able to grab a mousetrap into the pin and the win.

Winner and moving on: Orange Cassidy

Speedball Mike Bailey comes out to the stage as we are out of time. 

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