AEW Dynamite: September 18, 2024
by Doc Allen
Live from Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plz in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. WrestleTix estimates attendance at 2,524. Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, and Taz are on commentary.
Orange Cassidy (with The Conglomeration) vs. Chris Jericho (with The Learning Tree)
We get some faction warfare before the bell. Cassidy bumps Jericho against the buckles and pauses to moonsault onto the Learning Tree. Mark Briscoe helps with a heel tope. Jericho teases a dive, waves at the crowd instead. Orange Punch out of nowhere gets 2. OC dodges a hard Irish whip over the rails and nails a makeshift Orange Punch. OC blocks a superplex but Jericho reverses the flying stunner with The Walls. Running power slam by Jericho gets 2. He goes to work on the ribs. Cassidy is forced to foolishly roll into position to take the Lionsault. Stundog Millionaire and Michinoku Driver gets a nearfall. Jericho blocks a flying elbow but gets backdropped outside. Jericho reverses a diving DDT with a catapult against the barricade. He delivers a back suplex through the timekeepers table, fans chant "Holy sh!t!" Back from commercials, they slug it out. Thrust kick by OC, then some increasingly stiff sloth kicks. Surprise lariat by Jericho gets 2. Snug headbutt by Cassidy, Jericho reverses the DDT with the Walls yet again. OC gets the ropes, Big Bill ambushes with a big boot. Kyle O'Reilly stops the interference, Jericho hits a DVD for another 2. Cassidy is selling a bad back injury and dramatically nails some DDT's. Diving DDT by OC gets a nice false finish. They did well building up to that spot, fans chant "That was 3." Jericho hits the Codebreaker, OC kicks out! Fans chant "This is awesome!" OC ducks the Judas Effect, nails Beach Break, Jericho kicks out! Bryan Keith tries to get involved, Briscoe stops him. Cassidy takes a roll of quarters away from Jericho and nails a loaded Orange Punch to win at 19:30. I'm relieved that Cassidy didn't take the L. This was easily better than their previous Mimosa Mayhem match. It took a little while to get going, they were cooking after the commercials, ***½.Winner: Orange Cassidy
Pac and Claudio Castagnoli talk to the camera. They haven't heard from Wheeler Yuta since All Out, they demand he come back to work so they can defend their Trios Championship. Claudio isn't mad, he's disappointed. Jon Moxley says Yuta can make his own choices, but questions his manhood. This is the most interesting angle the Trios belts have had since… ever.
Alex Marvez stops Wheeler Yuta for some words. Yuta is conflicted and his head is in the clouds, leaving his belt behind and not knowing which show is next. He commits to defending the Trios Championship anyway.
Roderick Strong (with the Undisputed Kingdom) graces commentary with his presence.
FTW Champion Hook vs. JD Ink
Hook takes the jobber to Suplex City. Red Rum ends it at 1:03, which is disappointing because I wanted to hear more of Roddie's trash talk on commentary. Productive squash.Winner: Hook
Alex chats with Private Party. They think they should challenge for the Trios Championship, even after getting squashed like bugs last week. They put the BCC on notice.
Renee Paquette interviews The Patriarchy backstage. Christian Cage still has his Currency in the Safe contract. He demands that Renee refer to him as the reigning, undisputed next World Champion. Kip Sabian is caught lurking like Gollum and Christian threatens to put him in the dirt next to his father. Christian's current shtick is fun, I'm reluctant to care about the Kip angle, considering they had him hang out in a paper bag for 18 months with no payoff.
Serena Deeb and AEW Women's World Champion Mariah May vs. Queen Aminata and Yuka Sakazaki
Yuka blocks Deeb's dragon screw, they trade pinning predicaments until reaching a stalemate. Aminata tags and hits Deeb with a penalty kick. Mariah is goofing around, doesn't seem too invested in the match. Deeb gives Aminata a dragon screw in the ropes. With Aminata hurt, May is happy to tag in. Back from commercials, Yuka gets the hot tag and runs wild, suplexing May onto Deeb. May ambushes Yuka with a wheelbarrow German suplex. The match breaks down with more German suplexes. Yuka hits a spinning powerbomb, then a springboard splash outside. Yuka nails the Magical Girl Splash, but Mariah nails a blatant belt shot for the DQ at 8:03! Match was fine, providing some much needed heat between May and Sakazaki before WrestleDream, **.Winners via DQ: Yuka Sakazaki and Queen Aminata
Mariah isn't satisfied and continues whipping Yuka with the gold. No one rescues poor Yuka and she gets kissed on the cheek.
Mina Shirakawa video promo, putting former friend, Mariah May, on notice.
Nigel McGuinness video promo. The ROH video library gets put to good use with an impressive montage of classic McGuinness/Danielson matches.
The BCC (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, and Marina Shafir) arrogantly march through the crowd for an in-ring promo. I'm not really sure if they're still the BCC or not, but they haven't given us a new name quite yet. They get jumped by Private Party but make them regret it. Claudio gives Marq Quen a pair of brutal choke breakers. Moxley holds Isiah Kassidy for Marina's body shots. Komander tries to help but flies into Claudio's uppercut. Marina takes Alex Abrahantes down with a judo throw, she's my new hero. Moxley grabs a hammer. He mocks Private Party for going nowhere in 5 years and gives Kassidy the gift of a broken hand. Darby Allin ambushes Mox with his skateboard, Moxley bails. Darby isn't the man Mox knew and he's going to prove it at Grand Slam. I like how this feud is coming together.
Jack Perry video package highlighting his recent antics. He goes on many adventures in the Scapegoat Mobile.
Ricochet vs. The Beast Mortos
Potential banger alert! Ricochet is aggressive at the bell, but Mortos smashes him into the buckles. Mortos misses a head of steam, Ricochet nails a slick tope. Springboard clothesline by Ricochet, then the running SSP for 2. They exchange armdrags and block ranas, resulting in a stalemate and ovation. Ricochet tries a somersault senton, but Mortos powerbombs him onto the apron! Back from commercials, Ricochet escapes a chinlock and nails a Tiger Fade Kick. Ricochet blocks a German but eats a pop up Samoan Drop! Ricochet escapes a press slam and nails an enziguri. Snug headbutt by Mortos but he runs into a devastating backdrop outside. Ricochet tries a dive, they seem to have botched a counter, but they recover with Code Red. Springboard 450 splash by Ricochet gets 2. Mortos answers an avalanche press slam! Ricochet kicks out! Fans chant "AEW!" Ricochet recovers with a crucifix bomb and nails a stiff ax kick. He hits Vertigo to win at 11:32. They had an exciting back and forth contest, hindered by one blemish. Some might complain that Ricochet is going 50/50 with guys beneath him, but I like the formula, ***½.Winner: Ricochet
Hangman Adam Page video promo, recapping many of his more insane moments, like seeing himself in a broken mirror and setting Swerve Strickland's childhood home on fire.
Tony Schiavone hosts Hangman Adam Page in the ring. He's still got mean things to say about Swerve and the people who supported him. He threatens Tony with violence and gets jumped by Jeff Jarrett. Security rescues Jarrett from a Buckshot lariat and pulls them apart. Jeff refuses to let anyone hurt Schiavone and promises to kick Page's a$$.
Will Ospreay interrupts a Ricochet interview. Ricochet thinks he's won enough matches to challenge Ospreay at the Dynamite 5th Year Anniversary show. Will is left speechless by Ricochet's surprisingly good promo.
AEW International Champion Will Ospreay, Konosuke Takeshita, and Kyle Fletcher (with Don Callis) vs. The New Elite (AEW Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks and AEW Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada)
At first glance, this feels like a house show main event, but the Elite have a tendency to incorporate lots of underappreciated plot developments in these types of matches, so I'm going in with an open mind. Fans chant for Ospreay while Nicholas and Fletcher start. Will tags himself in and helps Fletcher hit a tandem hip toss. Okada tags in, fans chant "holy sh!t" for his showdown with Ospreay. Will hits a rana, Takeshita tags himself in by slapping his back. The dissension allows the Elite to hit triple sentons. They spend too much time posing and eat triple dropkicks and slingshot sentons outside. Back from commercials, Ospreay escapes the Elite's corner, Fletcher runs wild on a hot tag. Brainbuster by Fletcher gets 2 on Nicholas. Okada gets a villainous tag, but eats Kyle's Michinoku Driver. Takeshita tags and clotheslines Okada, trying to prove himself worthy of a Continental title shot. Brainbuster by Takeshita, then a flying senton, Okada kicks out. Okada answers with a DDT, Takeshita throws Okada into harm's way for an EVP Trigger. Okada gets triple teamed, the Bucks rescue him with a SUPERKICK PARTAY! Takeshita recovers but eats Okada's shotgun dropkick. Takeshita suffers Okada's special neckbreaker for 2. Back from MORE commercials, the Bucks are swarming Takeshita, his partners are MIA. Bucks hit Risky Business, Okada helps with a flying elbow. The Elite flip off the fans but Takeshita dodges the EVP Trigger. Takeshita German suplexes both Bucks! Ospreay gets the hot tag and soars in with a springboard forearm. Standing Sky Twister by Ospreay gets 2 on Matthew. Okada blocks the Oscutter, the Bucks blast superkicks. The Bucks deliver a nifty double stomp/Liger Bomb combo. Fans chant "This is awesome!" The Bucks pump their sneakers, and nails superkicks for only 2. Fletcher rescues Will with a half n' half suplex. He helps Will hit a combination driver for a great nearfall. Ospreay saves Fletcher from the Bucks and they hit a combination cutter. Takeshita gives Okada a Blue Thunder Bomb, then a somersault tope! The Bucks give Ospreay a facebuster, pause for a moonsault, but they can't hit the TK Driver. Fletcher hits a twisting Tombstone, Nicholas breaks the pin. Ospreay returns with a Hidden Blade, and helps Fletcher slam Matthew to win at 21:05! It warms my heart to see Fletcher earn a pinfall in a Dynamite main event. This far exceeded house show standards, by pouring on fuel for a future Takeshita/Okada showdown, and making a convincing case for Fletcher and Ospreay as a tag team. Hopefully Grand Slam can live up to this hype, ****.Winners: Kyle Fletcher, Will Ospreay, and Konosuke Takeshita
The Don Callis Family stands tall. The fans hate Callis but love all his clients.
Final Thoughts: This felt very much like a PPV go-home show, but the PPV in mind is actually a jam packed TV taping. I felt like every segment hit the mark, I'm struggling to find anything to nitpick. This episode told enough new chapters in ongoing storylines to warrant a recommendation.
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