With one episode to go, AEW Dynamite on TNT is all about The Boom! Adam Cole kicks it off, going one on one against Orange Cassidy in a fantastic opener. Cassidy, antics and all, put on a solid wrestling match with grappling exchange I have not seen from him in quite a while. Might have been the best wrestling outing to date. Cole and his no-nonsense attitude did little to stop some Freshly Squeezed offense. While the Best Friends drove the Young Bucks away from ringside, it would be interference from Bobby Fish who turned the tide for Cole.
How you ask? ENTER KYLE O’REILLY.
The Vicious Artist KO’s Cassidy, allowing Cole to get the pinfall victory.
As the live crowd chants “Undisputed!” over, the Bucks return with quizzical looks. Cole, sensing a tense moment brewing, makes an exit with his two buddies.
We’ve got ourselves an interesting trifecta of a feud, with Bucks, Formerly-Undisputed, and Best Friends.
Thanks to Bill [the editor-in-chief], another idea – Bucks and Cole/Fish/KOR versus – CHAOS!
Back in the ring, Tony Schiavone talks with “Hangman” Adam Page about nearly defeating Bryan Danielson. Instead the tables are turned when Page says he feels like less of a champion because he didn’t win. This is interrupted by Danielson who verbally rips Page, and the live crowd a new one, offering a rematch with judges so Hangman can’t “stall and escape” from him. The two then cut scathing promos on each other, Page even referencing when Danielson was called a “B+” player.
Intense promo, and announced Danielson/Hangman II will take place at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. This is the debut episode on TBS, so understandably they want something huge.
Here’s my hot take – Why is Hangman being questions about almost defeating Danielson? Hangman is the champ! He’s not the underdog anymore! Danielson should have been the one asking since he was the challenger! I get it, the story is still about Hangman being a respectable and humble champion, but fellas, this better wrap up before it dries up and fans get bored. Sorry, but as much as everyone loves Hangman Adam Page, myself included, this will defeat his character and send fans cheering for someone else. Don’t let this happen.
Backstage: Obvious seeds of Wardlow’s inevitable face-turn and break from Pinnacle continue to be planted as MJF berates him. I do like how Wardlow’s attitude is one of “I don’t give a damn.” This is how AEW should run with it. Let Wardlow be bored, powerbombing the crap out of everyone, until he finally does it to Shawn Spears, and then MJF. Spears is a goon right now, it’s clear he will be first in line to fall.
Wardlow defeats Captain Sean Dean in a minute.
My favorite uber-heel is back on the mic, one Dan Lambert. He goes right for the jugular, calling out Tony Khan and Cody Rhodes for playing favorites in order to shelve Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky. He goes as far to say how he’s been given the impossible task of trying to make a live crowd cheer for Cody. Brilliance in action. The rest of the promo was great, but that line was the winner.
Tony Schiavone with Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D., Jamie Hayter, and a possibly slightly inebriated Rebel/Reba talk about Riho. Baker’s promo does not mince words, reminding fans how she has carried the women’s division for over a year. She’s not wrong.
Promo package for the Owen Hart Memorial Cup Tournament. Showed clips of Hart vs. Jushin Thunder Liger. Various personalities such as Mark Henry, Adam Cole, and Matt Hardy talk about how great Owen was as a person and was a legit nice guy to everyone he met. This gave me chills. Watch the promo.
I know the internet trolls have nothing better to do than take a dump on this and say AEW is trying to get cheap ratings by exploitation… I call bullshit. No one has created anything in his memory, and the creation of a tournament in his name is a fitting tribute to a great wrestler taken too soon. I applaud this move by AEW.
Ruby Soho defeats Nyla Rose to advance to the final round of the TBS Women’s Championship Tournament
Soho successfully achieved victory, displaying the character full of fight and no quit. Rose would overpower Ruby most of the match, but Soho would not stay down for three. Rose sold some epic looking counters, even a tornado DDT which would make Fuego Del Sol jealous. Despite attempted interference from Vickie Guerrero, the underdog would come out the winner with an off-the-turnbuckle No Future strike for the three count.
Hot take – I will be pissed if this was all to feed Soho to Jade Cargill. Don’t get me wrong, Cargill has shown she can wrestle, but she’s still too “new” to go all the way in a tournament when majority of victories come on Dark and Elevation against rookies and low-tier wrestlers. The only way she gets past Thunder Rosa is through interference or some shenanigans. Soho will look like the underdog, again, in the tournament finals. Hard to say for sure who will win.
It’s should have been Serena Deeb.
Malakai Black defeated Griff Garrison by submission.
After early offense by Black, the torturer of souls went to the outside to confront Brian Pillman Jr. and wound up nearly losing his head as Garrison launched himself onto Black. What a shot.
Garrison put up a valiant effort, but Black, working over the legs the entire match, won after faking us all out with a faux Black Mass and forcing submission with a single leg crab. Pretty clever. Post match, Pillman eats the Black Mass right across the face.
Ouch.
CM Punk, Darby Allin, and Sting defeated MJFTR by pinfall
Let’s get it out of the way first. Yes, MJF took one hell of a nasty spill to the floor. Not sure exactly what went wrong when Sting tossed him out, but FTR tried to catch him but ultimately MJF appeared to get parked on his head when landing on the arena floor. Scary, scary moment. He appeared OK afterwards.
FTR get the MVP for this one. They are just soo good at everything they bring to television. From the entrances to the old school tactics, to the verbal exchanges, they are easily one of the best tag teams in the modern era. Change my mind. Just try.
Sting wearing Punk-style face paint, Punk wearing old school 80’s-early-90’s Sting face paint and trunks. You gotta love the fun they’re having with this. Allin had a sick bowling ball moment, launching like a torpedo and knocking all opponents over. Throughout the match there were rapid tags, great wrestling exchanges, and well-paced flow. Sting had a lot of ring time, and he still looked good wrestling. Towards the end he seemed a bit out of it, but he gets a pass from me, dude still has gas in the tank.
MJF played the slippery heel throughout the match, running away from Punk at all costs, avoiding conflict. Of course, this now hypes up their inevitable clash even more. Dax sacrifices himself when the faces target MJF, which leads to Harwood eating all finishers and being pinned by Punk.
Super-solid Dynamite, and next week’s final program on TNT, the New Year’s Smash promises to be a huge send off before Dynamite changes hands over to TBS.
Stay safe everyone, and to all those who celebrate, Merry Christmas!
AEW Holiday Bash 2021 is now streaming on TNT.
