AEW Dynamite: October 6, 2021
by Samoa Rowe
Live from the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Our hosts are Jim Ross, Tony Shavione, and Excalibur.
The Super Elite (AEW World Champion Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, and Adam Cole, with Brandon Cutler) vs. Bryan Danielson, Christian Cage, and Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus)
No televised entrances, which is a mild bummer. That does maximize their ring time, and Jungle Boy wastes no time mixing up with Cole. Christian enters and steps on Cole's back before dropping over for the uppercut. Christian cuts Matt Jackson off with a flapjack, and JB helps hit a tandem hip toss. The Elite work together to cut JB off in their corner. JB uses a tightrope walk arm drag to make a quick hot tag to Danielson, who lights Matt up with Yes kicks. The good guys swarm Matt in their corner, and Jurassic Express hit a tandem superkick/German. JB wipes out on a dive attempt. Christian fends off Michael Nakazawa, but he takes cold spray to his eyes and takes an Indie-taker onto the concrete floor. Christian sells the move like death, so let's all hope he's just selling. The match restarts with the Elite cornering Jungle Boy again. The Bucks and Cole showboat with a group kiss. JB hangs in there and takes the Bucks down with a tornado DDT. Danielson gets the hot tag and finds himself facing down Omega. The crowd stands up while they slug it out. Clothesline by Danielson, rolling boot to the corner, and the super rana! Danielson blocks a snap dragon, hits a Tiger suplex, and rolls into Cattle Mutilation, but a Buck breaks it with a senton. Luchasaurus saves Danielson from a gang beatdown. Cole cannot hit Panama Sunrise, and Luchasaurus chokeslams him onto Omega! Luchasaurus clears the ring with tail whips and moonsaults off the apron. That sets up an extended diving sequence. Cole decides to showboat instead, and it earns him a Luchasaurus chokeslam and moonsault for 2. The Elite fill the ring, Cole low blows Luchasaurus, but then they totally botch a group powerbomb. They turn their rage to Jungle Boy, and Cole hits a Panama Sunrise. Danielson saves the match, and gets in more Yes kicks on Omega, but the SuperKliq help with a superkick party and BTE Trigger, and Jungle Boy gets pinned at 18:00. Really great energy and effort here, but that botched powerbomb took the wind out of the balloon right as they were peaking, ***¾.Winners: The Super Elite
Jon Moxley tells the camera that there's no man in AEW who can beat him. Moxley has an insane 3 month old at home, so things are going to get crazy when he enters the Casino Ladder Match in Philly.
CM Punk comes to the ring to talk. Punk reminisces about moving to Philly in the early 00's and living and breathing pro wrestling as a part of the community. Punk wants to give back to the fans and can't decide to give them all cheese cake, er cheese steaks, or just wrestle for them. He challenges Daniel Garcia to a match on Rampage.
Arn Anderson burns some merch in a trashcan in Cody's backyard. Cody comes out to talk some reason into him, and Arn slaps him.
Video promo for the debuting Bobby Fish, who is walking through the "Forbidden Door" to compete for the TNT title.
TNT Championship:
Sammy Guevara © vs. Bobby Fish
Sammy is a man of his word and bought Fuego a new car, and now he's going to beat Fish like he promised. Fish came to fight and pummels Guevara into the ropes. Sammy back flips into an armdrag and nails a dropkick. Fish blocks Sammy's springboard attempt and slows things down on offense. Back from commercials, Sammy makes the expected comeback by blocking a slingshot senton. Fish fires back with a backdrop driver for a good nearfall. Sammy answers with a standing Spanish Fly! Fish cuts off the 630 senton and delivers a massive avalanche Falcon Arrow! Sammy kicks out! Fish hits an exploder into the buckles for another 2 count. Guevara is stumbling but still manages to hit GTH to win at 9:17! Good showing for Fish, who may or may not be sticking around, ***.Winner and still TNT Champion: Sammy Guevara
Sammy's celebration is cut short when Dan Lambert leads Men of the Year and his MMA army to the ring for a beatdown. Fuego Del Sol tries to save his friend to no avail. Chris Jericho and Jake Hager are out next, and manage to clear the ring. Lambert tells the fans to stop singing "that stupid song" so they belt "Judas" even louder. The next Dynamite will be in Lambert's home turf of Miami, so he challenges the Inner Circle to face Men of the Year and Junior Dos Santos in a six man tag. Jericho says he can't hear anything Dan is saying over the fans, and promises to beat the living sh!t out of them in Miami.
The Acclaimed rap about their status as #1 contenders. We can assume they've been racking up victories on the Youtube shows. They're getting their shot at Lucha Bros. on Rampage.
Tony Shiavone and Aubrey Edwards are in the ring to make a big announcement on Tony Khan's behalf. Since Dynamite will be moving to TBS in a few months, they unveil the new TBS Championship belt and it will be a part of the Women's Division! If the TBS title means the same thing to the women as the TNT title does to the men, this is a great idea, and should result in exciting, meaningful women's title matches every week.
Jim Ross sits down with Darby Allin for a serious talk. Darby confesses that he paints his face because 50% of him feels dead inside, as a result of surviving a car accident that killed his alcoholic uncle. Darby resisted popping MJF in the face because that's what everyone expected him to do, and he isn't willing to let MJF win this war physically or mentally. Tremendous character work here.
Darby Allin (with Sting) vs. Nick Comoroto (with The Factory)
Allin instantly Coffin Drops onto Nick at ringside. Comoroto soon reverses Code Red into a power slam. They cut to commercials with less than a minute gone. They return with Darby hitting a stunner and Coffin Drop for the win at 3:54. This was almost entirely eaten up the commercial.Winner: Darby Allin
QT Marshall puts Sting down with a crappy Diamond Cutter, but Sting (rightfully) no-sells that nonsense and hits QT with the Scorpion Death Drop.
The Dark Order hang out in the clubhouse and are in much better spirits after rallying together in Rochester. They agree to put all major decisions to a vote, but then resume bickering. Anna Jay snaps them out of it.
Tony Shiavone hosts Dante Martin in the ring. Dante boldly declares that he is willing to fight anyone in AEW. He gets his wish, the lights go out and Malakai Black appears behind him. Black sprays black mist into Dante's face, hits Black Mass, and accepts a fight for later.
FTW Champion Ricky Starks is in the ring to talk some trash about Brian Cage, and yes, this feud is still going on. Starks has the original FTW title, because they're in Philly, and Starks has the same mindset that Taz had all those years ago. Starks wants Cage in a Philly Street Fight. Cage runs in and gets booed while beating up Starks. Team Taz pulls Starks to safety. This feud and face turn has destroyed Cage.
Video promo for the various women jockeying for a spot in the TBS Championship tournament. Jade Cargill wants to reband the title the "That B!tch Show" Championship.
Hikaru Shida vs. Serena Deeb
Shida is looking to become the first woman in AEW to win 50 matches and has a plaque waiting on standby. Bell rings and they show off with a fast paced grappling contest until reaching a stalemate. Deeb aggressively rejects a handshake, so Shida makes her pay with a missile dropkick. Shida hits a running knee lift and sets up a chair, but Deeb puts the furniture away and hits a neckbreaker in the ropes. They cut to commercials with no warning. They return just in time for Shida's comeback, and another missile dropkick gets a nearfall. Deeb answers with the Octopus, can't hit the Detox, ducks an enziguri for a modified backslide, but Shida hits a tight knee shot. Shida follows with a flying crossbody to ringside. Deeb chop blocks the knee and follows with a dragon screw leg sweep. Swinging neckbreaker by Deeb gets 2. Shida answers with a running knee, and hits a KO kick despite her knee pain. Desperation Michinoku Driver by Shida gets 2, as does an equally desperate Falcon Arrow. Deeb traps the leg for an inverted dragon screw! Deeb hits the Detox but SHIDA KICKS OUT! Deeb locks a deep half crab (coined "the serenity lock") and wins at 10:20! This got awesome down the stretch thanks to Deeb's relentless knee work and Shida's brave babyface performance, ***½.Winner: Serena Deeb
Deeb smashes Shida's 50th win trophy over her head to MASSIVE crowd heat. I hope we don't have to wait another 5 months to see either of these women on Dynamite again.
Darby Allin tries to leave the building but gets jumped by a trio of masked figures. They lawn dart him into a stop sign and the bigger masked guy F10's him onto some rails. There's no mistaking the Pinnacle under the masks, and MJF chokes Darby with his skateboard.
Lio Rush talks to the camera. He's a big fan of Dante Martin, and as a businessman, he sees him as an undervalued commodity. If Dante is going to take on Malakai Black, he could use some guidance, so they'll talk soon.
Tony Shiavone talks to AEW Women's Champion Dr. Britt Baker, Jamie Hayter, and Rebel backstage. They're buzzing about the TBS title. Britt is happy that all the jealous b!tches in the back can fight amongst themselves and leave her out of it. She'll be watching the tournament "from the top."
Casino Ladder Match:
In case you forgot, this is basically a Royal Rumble style ladder match, with guys gradually joining, and the final entrant being a surprise "Joker." There's an oversized poker chip hanging from the rafters and whoever retrieves it will get a future AEW World title match. Orange Cassidy (with Best Friend and the Sixers' mascot) starts against Pac, and they pick up where they left off at Double or Nothing. Pac does better controlling his temper when OC lounges on the canvas and hits a backbreaker. Pac reverses OC's DDT into a brainbuster. Andrade El Idolo is out next and goes right for a ladder, and Pac meets him with a low dropkick. Pac climbs and Andrade springboards over for a sunset flip bomb. Cassidy puts hands in pocket to clear the ring. Big Money Matt Hardy joins the match with a Side Effect on OC. They cut to commercials. Lance Archer joins during the break and decides he'd rather wait for Jon Moxley than win the match. Mox throws a chair at Archer, Archer throws it right back. Archer goes for a ladder, Cassidy blindsides him with Orange Punches, and tries to climb up Archer's back to win. Moxley cuts OC off and hits a flipping powerbomb. Moxley is poised to win when the Joker is unveiled to be HANGMAN ADAM PAGE! The Philly crowd gives Hangman a standing ovation and cheers him on against Moxley. Page dumps Moxley and Archer, suplexes OC through a ladder, and wipes out Hardy. Pac ambushes Page from behind and sets him onto a table. Pac looks for a Black Arrow off the ladder, but Andrade interrupts, only to suffer a long fall through another ladder. Page meets Pac on top and hits DEAD EYE OFF THE LADDER THROUGH A TABLE! Moxley gets booed for attacking Page. Hardy finds OC and puts him through a table with a leg drop from a ladder. Meanwhile, Archer is ready to win, but Page surprises with a Buckshot lariat! Moxley hits Page with a chair and races him up the ladder. Page wins the slugfest and retrieves the poker chip at 17:10! The fans LOVE this outcome. All in all, this was a pretty standard ladder match, but was made special by Hangman's triumphant return and victory, ***¾.Winner: Hangman Page
Final Thoughts: This is one of my favorite episodes of Dynamite ever, which is saying something. The Hangman stuff made me mark out like a kid and I'm really excited to see how the Full Gear card comes together over the next month.
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