AEW Dynamite: September 4, 2024
by Doc Allen
Live from UW Arena in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. WrestleTix estimates attendance at 2,448. Tony Shiavone, Excalibur, and Taz are on commentary.
Daniel Garcia marches to the ring and challenges MJF to a fight. MJF responds from the crowd, Danny looks like a skinhead and has to wait for All Out to get his @ss kicked. Garcia makes fun of MJF for covering his acne with makeup and getting a botched hair implant. MJF should just quit, have an ugly-a$$ baby, and explain that Daniel Garcia ended his career. Fans give him a mild chant. MJF applauds Garcia for finally learning how to speak. He rambles on long enough to earn a "Shut the f*** up" chant, and that's even before he suggests that Danny's mother is a whore. Garcia hears enough, fights past security, but MJF smashes a beverage into his eyes. MJF cuddles up to Garcia, threatens to send him to paradise, and kisses his bloody forehead. This opening segment was really cold by their usual standards and did not play to Garcia's strengths. The final visual of MJF toying with his prey almost makes it all worthwhile.
Renee Paquette hangs out with The Conglomeration and Will Ospreay backstage. Mark Briscoe is completely off his rocker and spews a load of nonsense that resembles a battle cry.
AEW Continental Championship:
Kazuchika Okada © vs. ROH TV Champion Kyle Fletcher (with Don Callis)
Fans are hot for Okada at the bell. They lock up, Okada escapes a chinlock, pats Kyle's chest. Okada blocks a powerslam, teases an early Rainmaker. Fletcher nails a tope suicida, but may have reinjured his bandaged elbow. Back from commercials, Fletcher continues sacrificing his bad arm to throw forearm shots. Power slam by Kyle gets 2. Okada answers with his patented neckbreaker. Flying elbow by Okada, then the middle finger salute. Kyle counters the Rainmaker with a driver for a nice nearfall. Okada responds with a spike DDT outside. Kyle fires back with a brainbuster onto the ring frame. Back from MORE commercials, Fletcher escapes a wristlock choke and blasts some superkicks. Okada blocks a superplex and dropkicks Fletcher over the ropes. Kyle recovers with a BRAINBUSTER ONTO THE GUARD RAIL, then a somersault senton into the crowd! He sacrifices his injured arm AGAIN with a flying elbow drop, steals the Rainmaker pose, but Okada reverses into a Rainmaker. Fans chant "one more time" but misses the Rainmaker. Fletcher counters with a belly to back suplex and nails a messy Tombstone piledriver for a decent nearfall. Okada shields himself with the ref and uses a low blow and Rainmaker to win at 19:25. They set out to have a great match and elevate Fletcher's profile, but I thought this was kind of long winded for a heel vs. heel match. Okada continues to get cheered despite his best efforts, and the fans still favored him even after Fletcher's insane high spots. Time to move on, ***¼.Winner and still AEW Continental Champion: Kazuchika Okada
Konosuke Takeshita tries to get his hands on Okada, to no avail.
Special look at Swerve Strickland using his newfound fortune to purchase his childhood home. This finally answers the question "WHOSE HOUSE?" I know I'm not the only one worried that Hangman Adam Page is about to commit arson.
Jamie Hayter vs. Robyn Renegade
Hayter returned from a 15 month injury at the ALL IN buy-in. Saraya and Harley Cameron watch backstage as Jamie dominates from the start. Jamie absorbs a shotgun dropkick and rebounds with a mean lariat. Robyn delivers some running double knees, Jamie drops her with a big boot. Robyn flies into Hayter's power slam. Jamie delivers a series of backbreakers and nails the Hayterade(sp?) to win at 2:25. Robyn got just enough token offense to make Jamie have to earn this victory.Winner: Jamie Hayter
Roderick Strong shows Christopher Daniels the footage of Hook pinning him despite having a rope break. Hook agrees to defend the FTW title tonight, Strong will take his offer, but not in Milwaukee, ick.
Marina Shafir attacks anyone and everyone backstage, giving Jon Moxley a clear path to walk. They bump into the Young Bucks and Jack Perry. Mox doesn't care what anyone says, Jack is a sweet kid.
Moxley and Shafir hit the ring for some words. Mox has Darby Allin on his mind. Mox once beat the p!ss out of Allin and he knew he was special when he smiled back. He insists that Darby talk to him soon. And that's it. The jury is still out on this new direction for Mox.
Renee Paquette chats with The Learning Tree backstage. Chris Jericho is still mad that Orange Cassidy ruined his $7,000 jacket back in 2021. Cassidy walks in and acts like Jericho isn't there. He agrees to pay Jericho his money if Bryan Keith can beat him on Collision.
AEW Women's World Championship:
Mariah May © vs. Nyla Rose
May repeatedly slaps Nyla's face. Rose blocks a leg sweep and connects with a crossbody. Pair of body slams and a leg drop gets a nearfall for Rose. May snaps Nyla's neck and nails a missile dropkick. Back from commercials, Mariah is still in the driver's seat. They both try headbutts and knock each other loopy. They brawl to their feet, Rose blasts a German suplex. Rose puts together a string of offense and nails a clothesline for 2. Nyla rolls through May's crossbody and hits a big power slam. May flees the ring to avoid a cover, and sprints up to trip Nyla on the steps. Rose beats the countout at 9, May is ready to hit Storm Zero and win at 10:30. Good match with a smart finish to further develop May's heel character. It's a shame the fans didn't seem to care that much, **½.Winner and still AEW Women's World Champion: Mariah May
Deonna Purrazzo video promo. She's an artist or something. I won't lie, I'm kind of confused.
TBS Champion Mercedes Mone (with Kamille) comes out to talk. She says some mean things about Hikaru Shida, her insta-feud challenger for All Out. Shida appears on the Khantron and says Mone cannot beat the Ace. Christopher Daniels calls Kamille a nuisance and bans her from ringside. Sayonara, b!tch. Mercedes' promo was a whole lot of nothing, Shida's cheeky promo connected with the live crowd.
The Young Bucks and Jack Perry talk to the camera. From the moment Perry set eyes on Bryan Danielson, he knew one day he'd face him. He changed everything about himself to make sure he could fight Bryan before he retired. The Bucks are willing to do anything to make sure the AEW World title comes back to the Elite.
AEW World Champion Bryan Danielson joins commentary.
The Conglomeration (Orange Cassidy and Kyle O'Reilly) and AEW International Champion Will Ospreay vs. AEW World Trios Champions The Blackpool Combat Club (Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta) and Pac
Fans are ready for this one. Yuta and Kyle start with some friendly grappling. Cassidy tags in, Yuta won't let him put hands in pockets, they duke it out. Olympic Slam by Yuta, Pac tags and throws Cassidy at Ospreay to force a tag. Fans chant "holy sh!t" for Ospreay and Pac's showdown. Ospreay cartwheels into a dropkick, Pac flees into the BCC corner. Back from commercials, Yuta gives Cassidy a German suplex. Cassidy returns the favor, but Claudio enters to slam him onto the buckles. OC blocks Pac's brainbuster, but Pac reverses his diving DDT into a Brutalizer. Ospreay rescues Cassidy, the match breaks down. The BCC restore order but OC slips through them for a hot tag to Ospreay. Back from MORE commercials, fans are chanting "This is awesome!" while Claudio pummels Cassidy. Twisting rana by Cassidy sets up a tope suicida, kicking off a sequence of consecutive dives to really get the fans going. Ospreay blocks Pac's poison rana on the ramp and hits a somersault senton to the floor! Meanwhile Cassidy hits a diving DDT on Claudio, but misses the Orange Punch. Stundog Millionaire and Beach Break are good, Claudio kicks out! Cassidy and O'Reilly overwhelm Claudio with stiff kicks. Yuta stops the Orange Punch, but Kyle kicks him down and puts Claudio into a Guillotine choke. It takes a long time for Claudio to escape and hit a sick uppercut. Giant swing by Claudio, Yuta's assisted dropkick ends it at 19:03. Good crowd pleasing showcase, but nothing I'll remember past this weekend, ***.Winners: The Blackpool Combat Club and Pac
Danielson joins the BCC for their celebration. The New Elite jump them from behind. The BCC ultimately clean house, but Danielson isn't able to do any serious harm on Perry. Claudio and Yuta challenge the Bucks to a title match at All Out. Bryan vows to kick Perry's f***ing head in.
Meanwhile, Pac and Ospreay are still brawling backstage. Pac hits a brainbuster onto some production boxes. He'll see Ospreay on Saturday.
The main event segment is the official contract signing between Swerve Strickland (with Prince Nana) and Hangman Adam Page, with our host, Tony Shiavone. Hangman's music plays, but he's MIA. Our worst fears come true when Page appears at Swerve's newly repurchased childhood home. Hangman can imagine Papa Strickland telling Swerve to shut up since he didn't love him all that much. He relishes the opportunity to burn Swerve's world to the ground and sets the house ablaze, all while lounging in an armchair. Strickland collapses into an emotional heap in the ring. This is amazing.
Final Thoughts: This was kind of a flat episode, albeit with some memorable moments, like Moxley meeting Perry, and Hangman burning down Swerve's house. It did succeed in making me happy to have already ordered All Out, so there may be a few extra PPV customers out there now. I'd say skip this one and find the viral-ready moments on social media.
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