Earlier on Wednesday, Cody Rhodes stated the “go-home” show prior to a Pay-Per-View would be themed and have a bigger feel than a routine weekly program.
He was not kidding. AEW Dynamite: Crossroads was a hot show with one match just rolling into the next, easily keeping viewer’s attention. Some might be upset Moxley and Omega were not on the show, but don’t forget their epic showdown last week.
AEW Dynamite: Crossroads was the final Dynamite before Revolution kicked off with the AEW in-ring debut of Shaquille O’Neal and Jade Cargill, defeating the team of Cody Rhodes and Red Velvet. Let’s clear the air. There was a lot of trepidation whether this was going to work or not. Could Shaq actually compete?
Answer: YES. Yes he can. That chop in the first few minutes of the opener for AEW Dynamite: Crossroads shook my house. Cody should have crumbled like a condemned building. Let’s focus first on Shaq vs. Cody. They made it work. Cody looked good, Shaq looked like he might even do this again. Planting Cody with a fierce powerbomb brought a huge reaction to the live crowd. But let’s talk about that spot. You know, the one where Cody leapt over the ropes and both he and Shaq plowed right through two tables. Unbelievable.
I enjoyed every minute of it, and I admit, I wasn’t sure I was going to. AEW made a believer out of me.
Moving on to the in-ring time for Jade Cargill and Red Velvet. Both did it solid it the ring. Velvet impressed, and Cargill, while I was not a fan of her first appearance, showed with training, she could be a legit wrestler. She has the makings of an uber-heel. Was a bit over-the-top tonight? It sure was, and it worked. Locking in the figure four while taunting and waving? It works. If that is the Jade Cargill we are going to see in the future, then I remain hopeful. Jade got the win with a facebuster, and for the life of me, I thought this finisher was already being used by someone. The women were in the ring more, got to showcase more and did a damn good job. Mega kudos to them.
The post match was intriguing. Shaq was put into an ambulance as a result of crashing through a table. However when Tony Schiavone attempted to get a statement, the back of the ambulance… was empty.
Pac and Rey Fenix defeated D3 and John Skyler
This wasn’t even an early 1990s WWF squash match. This was Death Triangle completely owning the match. If it meant to keep Pac and Fenix fresh in our minds, it did the job. If there was another purpose, I’m not sure what it would have been.
Chris Jericho and MJF Press Conference
For something expected to be hokey, this turned out way better than expected. Despite some technical glitches early on, neither Jericho nor MJF held back for each “question” asked. The first about the Tag Team Championships. Jericho scored big, saying it’s been a year since losing the AEW World Championship, how he has held the tag team championships seven times, even with Paul Wight. Got a pop for that. Two members of Barstool Sports and a surprise appearance by Conrad Thompson himself, who was immediately chewed out by Jericho and MJF. Wow. Shots fired.
The best was saved for last, Eric Bischoff questioned the intelligence of the Inner Circle for firing up the Young Bucks by attacking their father, making this personal, which means the Bucks become a bigger threat. Jericho started to trash talk in return, but Nick and Matt Jackson hit the ring to verbally dismantle Jericho and MJF. Some stabbing words, specifically where they wonder if Jericho would be “the curtain jerker at the Performance Center.” Major ouch. MJF would likely continue to be unemployed without AEW, and thus, still living in his parent’s basement. Double ouch. This broke down into a brawl, with Brandon Cutler joining in and towards the end, The Good Brothers setting up Santana and Ortiz on tables, allowing the Bucks to do some high flying and table crashing.
It legit looked like both Bucks hurt themselves on those. But they’re fine. They’re all fine.
Great segment, turning up the hype-o-meter with the added personal jabs and real venomous tone of promos. Excellent work.
FTR and Tully Blanchard w/ J.J. DILLON (!) defeated The Jurassic Express
Okay, J.J. Dillon. For us old schoolers, this was special. Tully out in his old school robe and wearing a vintage NWA United States Championship. My jaw dropped. After the match was over, Arn Anderson poked his head out and flashed the signature four-fingers of a certain legendary stable. Tully pulled off a slingshot suplex. That made the match for me. Luchasaurus took both Cash and Dax over with a huge German suplex. He first moved to chokeslam Tully, but then had pity and let go. Changed his mind however and rocked him with the Tailwhip. Marko and Tully got into it a bit. Overall, a fun watch.
The end of the match saw the shenanigans, with a masked man assisting FTR, later revealed to be Shawn Spears. Tully’s got his stable!
Ryo Mizunami defeated Nyla Rose to win the Women’s Eliminator Tournament Trophy
This was a solid, hard-hitting match. The flashy style of Mizunami might have come off different on American television, but I think there is a flexible enough fanbase to enjoy her in-ring antics. Nyla Rose, did not. She attempt to out-power and out-maneuver Ryo, but multiple times, did not work at all. Ryo would fight back and at one point, even my wife was convinced they were hitting each other as hard as they could, for real. Nyla Rose missed a swanton bomb which was a close call, allowing Ryo to hit her signature diving legdrop a few times in different situations, but ultimately, the legdrop off the top would prove to be enough to put away “The Beast.”
Vickie Guerrero shrieking at ringside never gets old, yet, hurts my ears enough to want it to stop.
I was very happy with the outcome. I was afraid of overbooking Rose to PPVs, but this was the smart move, as Hikaru Shida, presented the trophy to Ryo Miznuami, and then the two decided to get crazy and throw elbow/forearm strikes at each other, just because they can. The smiles at the end made this segment a million bucks. Loved it.
No More B.S.
Is the newest and hottest selling T-shirt on Pro Wrestling Tees. Formerly known as The Big Show, Mr. Paul Wight is out with Tony Schiavone to promote the second AEW Dark program, Elevation. With the possibility of the Wednesday Night Wars ending, AEW is in a strong position while still in the early months of 2021. Wight promotes his involvement as color commentator, but interestingly teasing a major “Hall of Fame” caliber signee for the Sunday. Lot of speculation who it could be, but we won’t know for sure until Sunday evening.
If there was ever a time to do the Shaq vs. Wight match, it’s NOW. Teased once over a decade ago when then-Big Show and Shaq had an altercation on RAW, I believe summer of 2009, and then again in 2016 in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 32. Shaq seems to have some gas left in the tank, as they say on the ‘net: LET’S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Max Caster defeated Preston “10” Vance
A good short match. The ongoing story unfolds as we learn “Big Money” Matt Hardy paid Jack Evans to interfere, as part of Matt’s plan to hurt everyone in the Dark Order, to hurt anyone who is friends with Adam Page.
Vance has “the look” and appears to continue to improve skill-wise with each big match opportunity. Caster will bring his own unique style to the ladder match. Both an intriguing and good pick.
Also on commentary, is a slighty more heel-ish Scorpio Sky. Clearly on microphone, he said “F- Cody.” But he said “F” the letter, not the word. No bleeps needed.
The Main Event: “Hangman” Adam Page & John Silver defeated Matt Hardy and Marq Quen
First off, the website plug in Page’s entrance banner was hilariously brilliant. Adampagewrestling.com redirects to a relaxation video featuring horses and guitar. It’s brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.
The main event of AEW Dynamite: Crossroads A fast-paced match with each man in the ring having his own stint of offense. Matt Hardy appeared to dominate over Silver, until “Johnny Hungie” hulked up and took control, hitting some double-team moves with Hangman. Hardy and Quen did the same, however the specter of Matt continuously trying to keep himself as the better wrestler hovered over. Refusing to tag in when they were on the losing end, blind tagging or demanding to be tagged in when the advantage was theirs. Some easy dirty, arrogant heel tactics, work so well when performed by Hardy.
The match sped up to a point where Hardy backed away to watch Quen at the mercy of Hangman and Silver took complete control with their volley of individual consecutive moves, alternating into tag team combinations, where Hangman took Reynolds role here, ultimately ending with Quen being turned inside out with the Buckshot Lariat.
Hardy refused to make the save, leaving Hangman to pin Quen. Matt would then attack after the match, claiming it was a set up in order to save face. But the rest of the Dark Order rushed out for the save, which started the avalanche of bodies pouring into the ring, the entrants in the Tag Team Casino Battle Royale to close the show with a classic all-out brawl.
AEW hit all the points leading into this Sunday’s PPV. While some commented Moxely and Omega were not present, don’t forget they had their send-off closer to Revolution just last week. Last week’s Dynamite also possessed a fair amount of lead-in to this Sunday as well.
I believe with AEW spacing out their pay-per-views over a few months, like how it used to be done in the early-90s, giving plenty of time for feuds to develop, characters to grow, and challenges to be made, all without fear of rushing storylines for a monthly mega show. AEW has hit the stride, and won’t need to slow down anytime soon.
Personally speaking, AEW has brought me back to the 1990s where wrestling was fun and exciting to watch. There’s been something special about this company, and this program, where I’ve been glued to the TV, and rarely miss an episode. During AEW Dynamite: Crossroads my wife caught me jumping off the couch more than once. I’m not disparaging WWE in any way. I’m not. I am saying that AEW has brought something exciting and special to professional wrestling, and I am enjoying it very much. Simple as that.
AEW Dynamite: Crossroads is now streaming on the TNT app.
It has all broken down ahead of #AEWRevolution!
REMINDER: The Countdown to #AEWRevolution begins immediately following Dynamite pic.twitter.com/JNpRIn91FV
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) March 4, 2021
