AEW Dynamite: August 11, 2021
by Samoa Rowe
Live from the Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Our hosts are Jim Ross, Tony Shiavone, and Excalibur.
MJF (with Wardlow) talks to the camera about Chris Jericho chasing him through the labours. MJF finds this all to be very entertaining and offers Jericho an out, because Wardlow is the most dangerous labour yet, and MJF is still better than him anyway. MJF then "motivates" Wardlow by reminding him that he failed to beat Cody Rhodes in the cage, so he better come through tonight, and places a half eaten apple into his hands.
The Elite (AEW World Champion Kenny Omega and AEW Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks, with Don Callis, Brandon Cutler, and MT Nakazawa) vs. Dante Martin and The Sydal Brothers
Matt Sydal starts against Matt Jackson. The Sydals don't take kindly to Matt Jackson's pelvic thrusting and take control with tags. Nick Jackson helps with a tag but runs into Martin's dropkick. Omega cuts off Martin's momentum with an ambush. The Sydals and Martin recover with triple baseball slide dropkicks, and then launch Martin onto the Elite at ringside with a swan dive. The Elite manage to cut off Mike Sydal to earn some heat. The Bucks assist on a Kotaro Crusher, but Mike kicks out. Mike uses some Matrix moves to make the hot tag and Matt Sydal runs wild. Martin helps clear the ring so the Sydals can put Matt Jackson in stereo submissions. Omega saves with consecutive Snap Dragons, but Dante lands on his feet and hits an enziguri. The fans get behind Dante in loud fashion as he cleans house on a hot tag. Dante nails a springboard leaping rana to ringside onto Omega, and then springboards onto Matt Jackson for a close nearfall. The match breaks down, until Omega hits Dante with Ushigoroshi. V-Trigger is good, but Dante blocks One Winged Angel! Dante blocks the Tiger Driver, but eats more V-Triggers along the way. The Bucks drop the Sydals with superkicks, Dante takes One Winged Angel, and then an unnecessary BTE Trigger and pinned at 12:06! Good opening spotfest that will be remembered for Dante Martin's emergence, ***¼.Winners: The Elite
The Elite's post-match celebration is interrupted by none other than Christian Cage, and he's brought Jurassic Express with him as backup. Callis knows that Christian is the new #1 contender and announces the match will happen at All Out (cue a "CM Punk" chant), and that's okay, because Kenny cannot wait to kick out of Cage's new move. Kenny will give Christian the five star match he's always wanted and send him back to the bench. Cage fires back with "Are you finished you carny piece of sh!t?" Oh wait, they're in Pittsburgh, so Callis is actually a "carny jagoff." Christian reveals that not only will he get an AEW title shot at All Out, but he'll also be getting an Impact World title match in this very building on Rampage. Oh, and Jurassic Express are getting a Tag Team title match on the next Dynamite. They leave The Elite to stew over the bad news, though Kenny thinks the fans singing "Tarzan Boy" are actually singing "no, no, no."
Video promo from Malakai Black, whose House of Black mission is right on track after he destroyed Cody Rhodes and possibly sent him into retirement. This awkwardly segways into a commercial for Cody's new reality series, Rhodes to the Top.
Video promo from TNT Champion Miro. Last week, he forgave Lee Johnson and beat the sh!t out of him. Fuego Del Sol is next on the menu, even though I'm pretty sure he's still winless in AEW.
Daniel Garcia (with 2.0) vs. Darby Allin (with Sting)
The first lock up results with Garcia patting Allin on the face in a break. Allin fires back with a fireman's carry and lariat. Allin works a side headlock, but Garcia escapes for a shoulder block and armbar. They aggressively trade holds and Allin needs to use a rope break. Allin shoves and lures Garcia into a drop toe hold, and mockingly kicks the face. Garcia hammerlocks the arm and flips Allin into the buckles to send us to some commercials. They return with Garcia continuing to work over the arm. Garcia then misses a shotgun dropkick into the buckles, but 2.0 distract Allin while climbing the ropes. Garcia hits a hammerlock back suplex for 2. Garcia works a modified full nelson while stomping the back of Allin's head. Allin struggles to come back and hits a desperation stunner. The Coffin Drop ends it at 9:43. Last week, Garcia was on the losing end of a squashy match, this week he dominated a top star and seemingly only lost due to bad luck, **½.Winner: Darby Allin
2.0 attack Sting, who fights them off with SUPLEXES onto the stage. Darby helps send the upstarts packing.
Backstage interview with Death Triangle. Lucha Bros. assure Pac that they aren't falling for Andrade's mind games. Pac wants his friends to focus on the tag team division, he'll deal with Andrade himself.
Best Friends (Orange Cassidy, Chuck Taylor, and Wheeler Yuta) vs. The Hardy Family Office (Matt Hardy, Isiah Kassidy, and Marq Quen, with The Bunny, The Blade, and TH2)
Hardy talks some smack and blocks Cassidy from putting his hands in pockets. Cassidy blocks Matt's DELETE shtick and forces his hand into a pocket. Hardy knocks Cassidy down and teases his trademark leg drop. Cassidy recovers with a slothful falling headbutt. Private Party enter the match but miss Poetry in Motion. OC's sloth kicks set up Yuta to hit Poetry in Motion and then plant Kassidy for 2. Silly String on Yuta, but a late cover gets 2, so let's take a break. They come back with Yuta hitting Private Party with a double missile dropkick. Kris Statlander tries to neutralize the Bunny and gets ambushed by Nyla Rose. Yuta escapes into a tag anyway, and Chuck Taylor runs wild through Private Party and dives onto Blade and Angelico. Taylor powerbombs Private Party onto each other and hits Quen with a spinning Liger Bomb, but Matt breaks the pin. Cassidy takes Matt down with a tope suicida. Taylor plants Quen for Yuta's frog splash for 2. Yuta's German suplex is broken up by a swanton bomb. Gin n' Juice on Chuck, but OC saves the match. Orange Punch, but Jack Evans distracts. Matt sacrifices Private Party to clear out Orange and finishes Yuta with a Twist of Fate at 9:49. Match was pretty good, but this feud seems to be going nowhere fast, **½.Winners: The Hardy Family Office
Dasha interviews Andrade El Idolo and Chavo Guerrero, who are properly upset at the disrespect from Death Triangle. Chavo announces Andrade vs. Pac for All Out.
Video promo for Santana and Ortiz. They aren't finished going after FTR's blood.
Nyla Rose (with Vickie Guerrero) vs. Kris Statlander (with Best Friends)
Rose enjoys an early advantage stemming from her previous ambush. Statlander hits a roundhouse kick, but Rose takes her down with a flapjack. Kris fires back, but Rose hits a release German suplex. Statlander drops Nyla face first onto the ring apron and then hits a nifty pendulum moonsault. Vickie screams at Cassidy to back off, while Rose hits a suplex for 2. Kris walks on her hands away from the diving knee drop, so Rose spears her instead. Statlander counters with a powerbomb and hits a 450 splash to win at 3:05! Wow, this was hard hitting and satisfying, while avoiding getting needlessly padded out to extend through a commercial break. More of this please, **.Winner: Kris Statlander
The Young Bucks goof around shooting hoops, but take a break to brag about how great they are. Jurassic Express show up to block a layup and hit a slam dunk. The Bucks protest that they got fouled, and seem a little unaware of how much trouble they will be in when their titles are on the line.
Video promo for Red Velvet. She's stepping up to challenge Britt Baker on the inaugural episode of Rampage.
Tony Shiavone hosts AEW Women's Champion Dr. Britt Baker in the ring. Britt is the hometown hero, and the fans are waving provided towels in her honor. Britt seems to admit that she hasn't paid attention to Red Velvet's rise, because she has been on top of the division since the very beginning, and was not afraid to step up and become champion. Britt hopes to represent hope to her hometown fans, which is on the verge of being patronizing, but the crowd plays along. Britt and Velvet will get the main event spot on Rampage and declares premature victory. Red Velvet jumps Baker from behind and they get pulled apart to "DMD" chants.
Video promo for Ricky Starks vs. Brain Cage, ahead of a FTW Championship showdown.
Impact Tag Team Championship:
The Good Brothers © (Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows, with Brandon Cutler) vs. The Dark Order (Stu Grayson and Evil Uno)
Grayson meets the Good Brothers with a dive and serves Anderson up for Uno's jabs. The Dark Order hit Anderson with a dropkick/backslide combo for 2. Cutler yanks Uno off the apron, so Colt Cabana smashes him in the face. Cutler backs off and gets ambushed by Frankie Kazarian. Meanwhile, Gallows takes control of Uno with a big boot and summons some commercials. They return with Grayson's hot tag and he unleashes a flurry of springboard moves onto Anderson. Gallows saves the match and blocks a Burning Hammer. Grayson hits a double pele kick, and Uno returns to monkey flip Anderson into Grayson's overhead suplex onto Gallows! Grayson's 450 splash gets a nearfall for Uno! The Magic Killer is broken up, and Uno throws Grayson through the ropes into a tope suicida. Anderson hits Uno with a Gun Stun, and the Magic Killer ends Grayson at 7:50. Lively and energetic, though the Dark Order losing all the time is starting to feel counterproductive, **½.Winners and still Impact Tag Team Champions: The Good Brothers
NWA Women's Champion Kamille properly introduces herself to the AEW audience with a video promo. She's not impressed by Leyla Hirsch's height and can't wait to beat her in front of the whole world.
Tony Shiavone hosts QT Marshall and Aaron Solow. QT is supposed to apologize for doing something to Tony that I forgot about 10 seconds later. Instead, QT has the Factory beat up Tony's son, forcing him to apologize. QT hits Tony's adult son with a Diamond Cutter, and this lures out Paul Wight, to defend the honor of his broadcast colleague. QT backs off while the Solow eats a chokeslam.
Video recap of Joey Janela turning on Sonny Kiss on a recent episode of Dark: Elevation.
The 5 Labours of Jericho: Chapter 4
Chris Jericho vs. The Wardlow (with MJF)
Jericho seems worn down after the previous trials and Wardlow pummels him into the buckles. Jericho gets a boot up and nails a flying axe handle and Codebreaker for 1! Wardlow regains control and slows the pace down to where it suits him. Wardlow smashes Jericho against the guard rails and ring post. Pair of powerbombs by Wardlow and it's time for some commercials. They return with Wardlow hitting yet another powerbomb. Wardlow cuts off Jericho's comeback, hits an F10, but chooses not to make a cover. Jericho desperately locks on the Walls, but MJF rakes his eyes. Referee Aubrey Edwards catches MJF trying to interfere again and ejects him. Jericho uses the distraction to smash Floyd over Wardlow's head and finish with the Judas Effect at 10:05. Wasn't feeling this one, even if I can appreciate the attention to detail, **.Winner: Chris Jericho
Shawn Spears runs in for a beatdown, but Sammy Guevara rushes in for the save. Wardlow pulls Sammy off of Spears and smashes him into the canvas while MJF puts Jericho into the Salt of the Earth. Jake Hager makes a late save to send the Pinnacle fleeing. MJF stipulates that next week Jericho must face him in a match where he cannot use the Judas Effect or enter to his Judas theme song. MJF will prove that he is Jericho's successor.
Final Thoughts: Kind of a down week, with some bland feuds being featured. It doesn't help that everyone is holding their breath for the arrival of CM Punk. If you wanted to take this week off from Dynamite, no one would blame you.
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