AEW Dynamite- May 12, 2021
by Samoa Rowe
Tonight, New Japan invades AEW, when Yuji Nagata challenges Jon Moxley for the IWGP U.S. title.
Live from Daily's Place. We now know that the first non-Daily's Dynamite since March 2020 will be July 7th in Miami, and I must admit that I'm as nervous as I am thrilled about the development. We're not out of the COVID woods yet, but a lot can happen between now and July. Anyhoo, our hosts are Jim Ross, Tony Shiavone, and Excalibur. There looks to be a healthy socially distanced crowd in the building despite news stories today about low ticket sales.
IWGP United States Championship:
Jon Moxley © (with Eddie Kingston) vs. Yuji Nagata
Moxley enters to "Wild Thing" and I hope this isn't a permanent thing (Editor's Note: Ricky Vaughn just rolled over on his prison cot). Bell rings and they tear into each other until Moxley is forced to take a timeout. Moxley goes for the eyes and hits a diving knee strike to the spine. Nagata welcomes Moxley's kicks to the chest and asks for more. Nagata comes back with his own educated feet and hits an exploder for 2. Moxley absorbs a round of kicks and nails a suplex and lariat for a good nearfall. Nagata hits an avalanche exploder and salutes Moxley before hitting a kick for 2. Moxley desperately counters into a sleeper, but Nagata reverses into a deep armbar. Moxley's rope break leads to a slugfest. The Paradigm Shift abruptly ends the match at 8:34. Good little New Japan mixtape, **½. Winner and still IWGP U.S. Champion: Jon Moxley
Alex Marvez interviews Inner Circle members Ortiz, Sammy Guevara, and Jake Hager. They remind the Pinnacle that they had them all bloody and beaten at Blood & Guts before the twist ending. They're still gunning for the Pinnacle and demand a rematch, so they can put them in the grave.
Cody Rhodes comes out for a big Double or Nothing announcement, and I'm frankly worried that this is going to lead somewhere stupid. He cuts an ambitious, yet clunky promo about his patriotism, which brings us to Anthony Ogogo, who has been running down America despite taking advantage of its freedoms. He states that Ogogo didn't come here to live the "England Dream" and wow, when AEW eventually goes to the U.K., those fans are going to ROAST him. Also, I know I'm way behind on AEW's Youtube shows, but I can't recall Ogogo ripping America aside from a few glancing comments here and there, so I'm not positive this angle has enough meat behind it. Cody gets emotional talking about how his wife will give birth to their baby in a land that was once segregated, and he wants his unborn baby to know that he got up and fought back after being draped in the Union Jack flag. He challenges Ogogo to a match at Double or Nothing, in front of a full capacity crowd, and for one night Cody will brand himself to be the "American Dream." This promo ended on a strong note.
Video package for SCU vs. Young Bucks. SCU are riding a huge winning streak (that has aired almost exclusively on Youtube) and haven't forgotten about their promise to split up the next time they lose (even if Tony Khan forgot for months at a time).
AEW Tag Team Championship:
The Young Bucks © (with Don Callis and The Good Brothers) vs. SCU (Frankie Kazarian and Christopher Daniels)
Loud "SCU" chant at the bell, but I'll be honest, I'm ready for this team to split up. Kazarian aggressively tears into Nick after a slap. SCU take control of Nick with tandem offense and quick tags. Nick backdrops Daniels out, and Matt tags in for a flurry of arrogant offense. Matt gives Daniels a powerbomb onto the apron and then drapes him for Nick's somersault senton. During a commercial break, SCU right the ship, and hit a tandem sitout powerbomb. Kazarian back drops Matt into a driver from Daniels. Matt breaks up the BME, and Nick hits Kazarian with a bulldog. Nick hits a leaping face buster on Kazarian. Nick superkicks Daniels into the ring post for a gruesome blade job. Kazarian slings Nick into a cutter for a good nearfall. The Bucks hit a buckle bomb/enziguri combo, but Kazarian answers with a Northern lights suplex on both Bucks! Nick gets back dropped onto the ramp, and Kazarian rolls up Matt, but the Good Brothers distract the ref from counting. Kazarian hits a Styles Clash but Nick spears in to break the cover! Nick blocks a cutter, Matt superkicks Kazarian and hits a tombstone piledriver. Daniels breaks up the cover. Angels Wings on Nick! Matt spears Daniels and pummels his bloody eye. Matt parodies the WM24 "I'm sorry, I love you" and superkicks Daniels for 2! Uranage by Daniels, but he botches a BME! Daniels recovers for a proper BME, but Nick saves the match. Matt sprays Daniels with a can of something, and superkicks him for a great false finish. BTE Trigger ends it for real at 13:52! Great action and narrative here. The BME botch hurts a little, but can be rationalized away by Daniels' incredible blood loss, ***½.Winners and still AEW Tag Team Champions: The Young Bucks
Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston destroy The Elite's dressing room, presumably outraged by what just happened to SCU.
Dasha interviews Christian Cage backstage. Christian dismisses criticisms from Taz and announces his intention to be a part of the Casino Battle Royal at Double or Nothing. He's interrupted by Matt Sydal, who is looking for redemption after botching a SSP in the battle royal last year. Sydal wants to "outwork" Cage in a singles match, presumably next week.
Apparently, Kenny Omega has never watched wrestling before, because he thinks this no contest result means he's free of Pac and Cassidy. Tony Shiavone reveals that Omega will have to defend his title against both guys in a triple threat. This sends Omega and Callis into a rage, and man, I thought they were smarter than this. Fans chant "triple threat" and the champ runs back to Winnipeg. AEW has avoided triple threat main events up to this point, so I can let this play out and see where it goes.
The Good Brothers and Young Bucks are upset about their trashed dressing room. The Bucks take comfort by the fact that they sent SCU out to the pasture, and decide to face the #1 ranked Varsity Blondes next week. The Bucks are the most selfless Christian men in the business and invite Moxley and Kingston to a superkick party at Double or Nothing.
Alex Marvez interviews Hangman Page and The Dark Order in their clubhouse. Page isn't too ashamed of losing his #1 contender status with a loss to Brian Cage, because it took 3 and a half guys jumping him to do it. Page suspects that Cage isn't satisfied with that win and challenges him to a rematch at Double or Nothing.
The Pinnacle (with floozies!) come to the ring to bask in their Blood & Guts victory. MJF is wearing a crown because he beat the Demo God, therefore he's now the greatest of all time. MJF orders the fans to bow before him and the other Pinnacle guys. Last week, Dynamite ranked #1 on cable for the first time, and it's all because of The Pinnacle, and credits Shawn Spears for record breaking ratings in Canada. Tully Blanchard says it's hard to be at the top and look down on others and puts over The Pinnacle for taking everything the Inner Circle could give them but coming out on top. Tully gifts the five best looking women in Jacksonville and expensive watches to the Pinnacle guys. Tully isn't playing to the hard camera, maybe he needs to spend some time in NXT. They're interrupted by a honking noise, and it's Guevara, Hager, and Ortiz riding in on a "Bit of the Bubbly" truck. MJF says they aren't interested in the "dead" Inner Circle and tells them to scram. Chris Jericho appears from the back of the trailer and demands a rematch. MJF says no, so Jericho orders Sammy to spray them down with a hose. I love it when AEW does the Attitude Era's Greatest Hits. MJF agrees to a Stadium Stampede match with the Inner Circle, but only if the Inner Circle have to break up if they lose. Well, I'm certainly stoked for this, but I wonder how AEW will do Stadium Stampede if they plan on having a "full capacity" crowd for Double or Nothing.
Jim Ross talks to Dr. Britt Baker about the time Hikaru Shida broke her nose. Britt says that pain can hurt or change a person, and she decided to become the baddest b!tch on the planet. It's poetic that Shida created the monster that will dethrone her. Ross brings up a recent incident when Britt ruined Tony Khan's Forbes photoshoot, and she takes exception to being painted as a villain. Britt acknowledges that Shida kept the Women's division afloat through injuries and travel restrictions, but she's the real face of the division and will give it a life of it's own as champion. Good stuff here.
The Dark Order have a failed run-in, and Miro poses on Darby. Lance Archer wants a piece of Miro, but Jake Roberts holds him back, and it seems like we have another Double or Nothing match to look forward to.
Final Thoughts: Tonight was one of those nights where it feels like Dynamite is simply thriving. Everything (yes, everything) worked for me tonight. Big thumbs up.
Orange Cassidy (with Best Friends and Kris Statlander) vs. Pac (with Lucha Bros.)
Cassidy mockingly puts his shades on Pac, who promptly crumbles them up. Beach Break out of nowhere gets a close 2 count. Cassidy puts his hands in pockets for a tope suicida and nonchalantly puts on a backup pair of shades. Back from commercials, Pac has taken control and smashes young Cassidy into the barricades. Pac hits a pair of shotgun missile dropkicks. Cassidy then casually rolls away from Pac's Black Arrow attempts, in a fun callback to their classic Revolution 2020 match. Cassidy rolls beneath the buckles and mocks Pac with a lazy thumbs up. Cassidy finds his second wind and nearly wins with a victory roll. Thrust kick by Pac, and then he murders poor Cassidy with a stacking sitout powerbomb. That's got to be a concussion. They cut to a second commercial break, and my hunch is this is heading towards a time limit draw. They return with Don Callis chastising Pac for not winning quickly. Kenny Omega sneaks in and clocks Pac with the AEW title. The match ends as a draw at 14:01 when neither Pac or OC can stand up. Good match, though I'm sad that my time limit draw prediction didn't pan out, ***.
No Contest
Thunder Rosa vs. Jazmin Allure
I believe this is Rosa's first match since she defeated Britt Baker in the insane Unsanctioned match, she must be upset that Britt has become #1 contender. Rosa tears into Allure and hits a nasty shotgun dropkick. Scoop slam by Rosa and then a back senton for 2. Shoulder breaker by Rosa and then a driver to win at 1:55. Squash matches are so underappreciated.
Winner: Thunder Rosa
TNT Championship:
Miro is undefeated in singles matches in AEW, so he's a natural championship contender. Darby has become a fighting champion over the past month. Miro attacks before the bell and stomps Darby into the canvas. He throws Allin to ringside and then smashes him into the rails. Sting isn't helping, so I wonder if the bell rang and I missed it. Excalibur says the bell hasn't rung, so maybe it's Sting who's confused. Miro suplexes Darby over the barricade while Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky laugh it up in the stands. Back to the ring, Darby agrees to the match, and Miro hits a thrust kick for a good nearfall. Darby slips out and knocks Miro into the ring post and then nails a slick tope suicida! Miro reverses another dive into a nasty bell to back suplex on the floor. Both guys look battered as they cut to picture-in-picture commercials. Back from the break, Miro has the upper hand. During the break, Sky and Page beat up poor Sting, not like he was helping anyway. Miro works a bear hug, but Darby grabs the ropes. Sleeper by Darby and Miro collapses into the ropes. Darby reapplies the sleeper on the floor, and the ref stops Miro from breaking it with a belt shot. Instead, Miro drives Darby into the stage wall (thanks, ref). Miro relentlessly attacks the shoulder while Sting limps back up. Darby and Sting share an emotional fist bump, and then Darby slaps Miro across the face. Stunner by Darby only gets 2! A second Stunner by Darby, and then a Coffin Drop, but Miro reverses into a waistlock suplex, but Darby lands on his feet! Darby's rollup gets 2.9, and he hits Code Red but MIRO KICKS OUT! Miro wrenches in a sickening Game Over to win at 11:361 These guys have insanely awesome chemistry and I cannot wait for the inevitable rematch, ****!
Darby Allin © (with Sting) vs. Miro
Winner and NEW TNT Champion: Miro
Sound Off!
Comment about this article on Da' Wrestling Boards!