AEW Dynamite: 5th Anniversary
October 2, 2024
by Doc Allen
Live from the Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. WrestleTix estimates attendance at 4,425. That number might be low, the lower bowl looks full. Tony Shiavone, Excalibur, and Nigel McGuinness are on commentary.
Blackpool Combat Club opens the show with a video promo. They lurk around in a dark parking lot. They're not ready to let go of Wheeler Yuta. Jon Moxley is laser focused on the AEW title and promises there will be casualties. He's going to send Danielson home for good.
AEW International Championship:
Will Ospreay © vs. Ricochet
Ospreay may be distracted by Don Callis cryptically stating they need to have a serious conversation, then taking Kyle Fletcher away to the airport. Fans chant "this is awesome" at the bell. Chain wrestling leads to flipping, blocking ranas with cartwheels, and reaching a stalemate with stereo superhero landings. Fans give them a standing ovation. Ricochet bonks Will's head into the rails with a tope.Ospreay slips a bit landing on the barricade, but Ricochet still nails a springboard rana! Ospreay answers with the Phenomenal Forearm for 2. Ricochet responds with a pair of clotheslines for 2. They exchange elaborate kicks, Ospreay blasts a standing Spanish Fly. They fight on the apron until Ospreay nails a modified OsCutter! Back from commercials, Ospreay blocks an avalanche rana by landing on his feet. Ricochet furiously steals the OsCutter for a nice nearfall. Will dodges a 450, Ricochet makes him pay with a Backslide Bomb and Tombstone Piledriver for an even nicer nearfall. Fans chant "Fight Forever!" Ricochet tries rolling suplexes, Ospreay reverses into a Stunner. Styles Clash by Ospreay, Ricochet kicks out! Ricochet kicks out of another OsCutter, they stay down for an ovation. Ricochet reverses the Hidden Blade and lands a Shooting Star Press for another 2. Fans chant "This is awesome!" They exchange poison ranas, Ospreay pops up to hit the Hidden Blade. Ospreay collapses backfirst onto Ricochet for the bemusing double pinfall at 16:55. Fans boo the outcome, both competitors ask for a restart. Bell rings again, they slug it out. Ospreay hits the Hidden Blade and gets ambushed by Konosuke Takeshita for the DQ at 17:38. Nice, they traded one crappy finish for another. Takeshita decimates both competitors, they're done for real. The fans ate this entire thing up, I felt oddly disconnected from most of it. I could have used more of Ricochet becoming frustrated and showing more desperation. Good match, just not what I had imagined, ***½.Winner via DQ: Will Ospreay
Takeshita poses with the International title while fans chant "a**hole." At least the heel is getting the heat and not the promotion.
Renee Paquette chants with TBS Champion Mercedes Mone and Kamille. Mone feels so blessed to have been a small part of Dynamite's 5 year history but then plays a highlight reel exclusively for herself. MVP interrupts to give Mercedes his (Hurt) business card, they should speak later.
Later, Renee interviews The Gunns. They pump up Juice Robinson, but suffer a vicious chair attack from Hangman Adam Page.
Oh joy, the Learning Tree are here for another wacky TV Time segment. Chris Jericho congratulates AEW for their new TV deal, making many "real experts" look like "real idiots." He takes credit for all this success, Bryan Keith starts a "Thank you, Chris" chant. More importantly, it's the 34th anniversary of Jericho's wrestling debut. After defeating Mark Briscoe, he's ready to become "The Nueve" and demands an ROH World title shot at WrestleDream. Mark Briscoe and The Conglomeration answer the invitation. Mark was raised to be a man and not make excuses. He feels fortunate to have been pinned by Jericho, because now he has a chance to put a legendary head on his wall. Jericho sinks way too low by suggesting that Mark will never be as good as Jay was and gets knocked off his feet. Mark vows to give him a Briscoe Brother a** whooping at WrestleDream. Take away the goofy set, I was pleasantly surprised by how well this TV Time segment was going, until Jericho brought all the cringe by invoking the late Jay Briscoe. The crowd gasped, but didn't boo, which says a lot.
Darby Allin talks to the camera in a junkyard. He reminisces about fighting a group of thugs on a bus after getting spat on. He would rather get stabbed than not stand up for himself. Darby issues an open challenge for WrestleDream, because he has nothing left to lose.
Hangman Adam Page vs. Juice Robinson
Page starts the fight on the stage, Juice fends him off with a strap. Hangman seizes the strap and smashes him into the crowd. Hangman props a table, Juice counters with a backdrop. They brawl up the stands, Juice throws beer and popcorn into Page's face. They finally enter the ring, Juice uses the strap to choke Hangman. Page angrily comes back with aggressive kicks. Back from commercials, Juice nails a desperate superplex. He builds more momentum with lots of jabbing, but misses a corner cannonball. Hangman capitalizes with a fireman's carry slam onto the ring frame. Juice answers with a spinebuster against the apron, then successfully hits the cannonball against the guard rail. Page rolls through Robinson's high crossbody and nails a fallaway slam into the buckles! Page counters an avalanche Deadeye into a Last Ride powerbomb. Hangman hits a blind low blow and finishes with the Buckshot Lariat at 10:10. They were having a good brawl before the break, then absolutely killed each other with all the stunt bumps against the furniture. Good development for Hangman, ***¼.Winner: Hangman Adam Page
Page hangs Juice with the strap, but gets ambushed by the returning Switchblade Jay White! The fans are solidly behind Jay as he spears Page into the propped table in the stands. Good to see White back in a meaningful role.
TNT Champion Jack Perry arrives in the Scapegoat Mobile. Katsuyori Shiba uses Google Translate to challenge him for WrestleDream. Perry smashes him against his ride and accepts.
AEW World Champion Bryan Danielson talks to the camera. He's had "F*** Moxley" on his mind all day, but is distracting himself by challenging Okada. This is their rubber match, they have a history of injuring each other, and Bryan is doing this for the fans.
Dr. Britt Baker vs. Serena Deeb
Bell rings, they battle for wrist control. AEW Women's Champion Mariah May is spotted in the crowd. Britt escapes a half crab and manages a neckbreaker. Deeb chop blocks the knee to regain control. Back from commercials, Britt makes the regularly scheduled babyface comeback. Sling Blade by Britt, then a swinging neckbreaker for 2. Deeb answers with a dragon screw in the corner. Powerbomb by Deeb gets 2, so she grabs a stretch muffler. Serena escapes but eats a snap German suplex. Thrust kick by Britt, Serena responds with a lariat. Britt reverses DeTox into an Air Raid Crash. Deeb blocks Lockjaw, Britt hits an avalanche Air Raid Crash, Deeb kicks out! Deeb succumbs to Lockjaw at 11:52! They were having the most formulaic match of all time until kicking it into a higher gear after the break, **¾.Winner: Dr. Britt Baker
Sore loser Deeb tries to cripple Britt afterwards. Queen Aminata runs in to brawl with Deeb. Mariah May seems to love all of this.
Renee talks to Hook backstage. Papa Taz was ambushed and injured earlier today and flown back to New York. Hook is all shaken up and vows to find the culprits.
Mr. Currency in the Safe Christian Cage talks to the camera. Our father figure is going to have it all, HOOK, line, and sinker. Gee, do you think he had something to do with injuring Taz?
Mariah May talks to Renee backstage. She's wondering how many titles can Willow Nightingale lose but continue contending with her. Willow interrupts for a pull apart brawl.
Private Party (Marq Quen and Isiah Kassidy) vs. Iron Savages (Bronson and Boulder, with Jacked Jameson)
Private Party were on job duty not too long ago, but now they're facing bigger jobbers with no televised entrance. They get to showcase their athleticism, and hit a sloppy Gin and Juice to win at 1:05. I fully endorse a Private Party rebuild, but this... wasn't good.Winners: Private Party
Isiah Kassidy grabs the mic and vows that Private Party will become champions by year's end. They beat the Young Bucks once and want to do it again right now. Hey, they're on an epic one match winning streak, why not? AEW Tag Team Champions Young Bucks answer the call, because you can't have an anniversary show without them. The Bucks would like to accept the challenge, but they have limited dates in their contracts, and don't want to waste them on a crappy town like Pittsburgh. Jack Perry ambushes Private Party, the Bucks join in the beatdown. Katsuyori Shibata arrives, The Elite immediately back away. Interim GM Christopher Daniels books the logical six man tag for Rampage.
Renee welcomes MVP to AEW. He is about to make a big announcement when Prince Nana interrupts. Nana wants to fight MVP, but Shelton Benjamin is here to drink Nana's coffee and keep him in line.
AEW World Championship/AEW Continental Championship:
Bryan Danielson © vs. Kazuchika Okada ©
Okada's title is only on the line for the first 20 minutes. That's a strange stip, but I'm willing to give it a try. Crowd is hot at the bell. They lock up, fans give them dueling chants. They sprint through rapid reversals until reaching a stalemate. Back from commercials, the fans are chanting "YES!" for another lockup. Bryan nails a tope, but Okada sprints back to hit a flapjack. Bryan misses a diving headbutt, just as cringeworthy as ever. Okada scores a snug DDT for 2. Bryan is unable to score a clothesline and eats a big dropkick. Okada is deliberately keeping a slow pace in order to drag this past 20 minutes. He hits a big boot over the barricade, but Bryan responds with hard Irish whips and a shotgun dropkick. Missile dropkick by Danielson, then a tope onto the ramp. He builds momentum with YES kicks, but can't get the LeBell lock. They exchange uppercuts, then blistering open hand strikes. Okada nails his patented dropkick, then a flying elbow to the arm. Okada distracts himself by flipping off the fans, Bryan grabs a triangle choke, then the LeBell Lock! Dramatic rope break by Okada, Bryan nails the BuSaiKu knee, but Okada rolls outside to avoid the cover and we're now past 20 minutes. Okada wants to stall for time outside, Bryan nails a somersault senton. Okada answers with a Tombstone piledriver on the floor! Back from MORE commercials, they're taking a breather after a top rope stunt. Bryan unloads stiff shots and a German suplex. Okada pops up for a dropkick, Bryan nails a roundhouse kick. Dropkick by Okada, Bryan blocks the Rainmaker. He traps the wrist and stomps Okada's f***ing head in. Okada blocks the BuSaiKu knee, nails Rainmaker, but is too hurt to cover. They brawl to their feet, Bryan blocks a German suplex, but his BuSaiKu knee is waved away. Okada steals the BuSaiKu knee for a great nearfall, Bryan steals Rainmaker for another hot false finish. Hammer and Anvil elbows for Okada, who escapes for his patented neckbreaker. The BCC arrive for potential shenanigans. Luckily, Bryan reverses into a backslide and wins at 31:41! This was every bit the grand epic you would expect from these two guys. Okada put in a cerebral heel performance, and Danielson continues to play to the wounded warrior to perfection. Simply state of the art stuff, ****½.Winner and still AEW World Champion: Bryan Danielson
Danielson's celebration is cut short by Okada's Rainmaker! The BCC hold Bryan still for Moxley to threaten him. Mox suggests that someone is forcing his hand. Wheeler Yuta runs in with a hammer to clear them out. Moxley dares Yuta to hammer him, Danielson pops back up, and we've got another brawl on our hands. The BCC get cleared out again. Yuta is sick of being treated like a child. They set up the logical tag match for next Dynamite.
Final Thoughts: It's hard to believe that Dynamite has already been on the air for 5 years. I honestly didn't think I was going to enjoy it as much as I have. When I started recapping this program in 2019, I figured I'd do the first 4-5 episodes, then get bored and move on. Instead, I've largely stuck with Dynamite, despite life getting in the way for some gaps here and there. There were some flaws tonight, but the main event is leaving a sweet taste in my mouth. Recommended.
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