Dynamite 2/2 kicks off with Jon Moxley defeating Wheeler Yuta. Wait, what happened to Brian Kendrick? Well, turns out, when you are a right-wing conspiracy anti-Semite, you lose your job real fast. This time around, Yuta looked damn good, holding his own against Mox. He went down in a losing effort, but this time it was a solid wrestling match.
I can’t believe Orange Cassidy and Danhausen were at ring side. I feel like a black hole has to open.
What took place after the match is going to echo for weeks to come. Bryan Danielson comes to the ring to tease a match, sending the crowd into a frenzy. Instead, he offers something better… teaming up. The live crowd loves it and so do I. It doesn’t end there, Danielson continues to talk about how the two of them could form their own stable, take Wheeler Yuta, Daniel Garcia, Lee Moriarty, and others under their guidance to craft a breed of wrestler all their own.
Brandi Rhodes in the ring, within thirty seconds trying to goad the crowd, but is interrupted by Dan Lambert. He proceeds to run her down, while her attempts at retorting are met with some profane chants from the crowd. I guess Brandi is embracing the hate from the crowd. She makes the mistake of wondering if the crowd is done, so the chants get louder.
Sorry, this segment went all sorts of sideways. I’m not sure what this was meant to do.
Lambert’s best line was about being run out of here by “cancel culture.”
Lambert brings out Paige VanZant to fight Brandi, but the women from the AEW locker room rush out to separate them. If this is meant to build a Paige/Brandi match… It’s… It’s not gonna be good.
Kings of the Black Throne defeated Death Triangle
What a damn fun match this was. PAC played up the blindness early on, but quickly revealed to be all healed. Great back and forth, everyone had their time to show off. Great high flying spots from PAC and Penta, whereas Black and King dropped their opponents with some stiff looking shots. The closing moments saw Malakai use the black mist on Penta to gain the pinfall victory.
Supporting Ruby at ringside is Lars Frederiksen from Rancid. Cool to see him in the crowd. Nyla dominated quite a bit, although Ruby came back with some pretty sick offense. Ruby hit the No Future wheel kick, however Vickie Guerrero pulled Nyla’s foot to the bottom rope, stopping the count. This gave Nyla the chance to make a comeback. While it seemed Ruby was going to pull out the win, Rose outsmarted the rebel, scoring with the Beast Bomb for the win.
Gunn Club beats up Jungle Boy
Interview with “Hangman” Adam Page, he doesn’t want to wait until next week. He wants a fight. Now. interrupted by Dan Lambert and Jake “The Snake” Roberts. Lambert throws the verbal bombs while Snake attempts some mind games. These are interrupted by Lance Archer who obliges. Archer gain the advantage following a chair shot. Next week, it’s a Texas Deathmatch.
MJF defeats CM Punk in Chicago
The match we’ve been waiting for. The result we didn’t expect, but I am OK with it.
It was epic. A match which felt like the long-game storytelling of the 80’s and early 90’s. Maybe a bit into the early 2000s also. This was no sprint, but over 30-minutes of wrestling, mind-games, and some of the most intricate close calls.
Throughout the match, both sold arm pain, leg injuries, bodily weakness, and when I mean sell, I mean selling every moment to a point where it was visible certain moves did not carry the impact each normally would.
Let’s get to the big moments. The submission shocker. MJF seemingly putting Punk to sleep with the Main Event Sleeper, but with the assistance of a belt wrapped around his neck, completely obscured from referee view. Genius. Just genius. However, due to MJF getting cocky and dropping it while celebrating, referee Bryce Remsburg restarting the match. Punk goes on a tear of offense, but just could not get the GTS. However in a tense moment, Punk and MJF are on the top turnbuckle… Punk hooking both arms while Friedman’s head is tucked down. Could it be? Really? After over a decade and a half…
PEPSI PLUNGE!?
MJF managed to roll outside, but while Punk appears to have the win, the presence of Wardlow suddenly pauses everything. Is this the week it happens? He steps over MJF and faces Punk, but then backs away. In the ring, something suspicious is taking place, and as Punk moves in, The Salt of the Earth punches Punk who crumples to the mat! The Diamond Dynamite Ring! A replay shows Wardlow dropping the ring to MJF as he stepped over.
What a moment. What a swerve, and brilliantly done. We’re left to wonder if Wardlow may ever turn on his boss, and now we wonder if this is the end of Punk’s feud with MJF.
I say “no” to both.
While the mid-card of Dynamite felt average, the moments with Mox and Danielson and the main event were on par from what we have come to expect from AEW.
I am glad no new debuts tonight, and to be honest, I don’t want any for a while. The surprises can wait, let the current arcs continue on and we’ll be watching with great interest towards Revolution!
Yessir. We got the Pepsi Plunge on live television.
Folks, if this didn’t scream MOTY candidate, I don’t know what your bar is set at.
