It’s the Wednesday after a major pay-per-view and there is so much to unpack. One of the most violent, brutal, intense events in recent history. Tonight’s Dynamite gave us a few answers, but added more questions. The major running theme surrounded change in the atmosphere, Mox leading the charge, as many wonder what exactly is being planned in the near future.
Multiple video packages are shown throughout the night, featuring the Blackpool Combat Club, narrated by Jon Moxley, with a theme of change, by any means necessary, even excessive violence. It would seem that gradually his stable is going to run roughshod over the roster and I imagine a collision with the Elite is inevitable. halfway through the show he confronts Darby Allin, demanding the youngster relinquish his guaranteed World title match. This prompts an intense promo where Darby confesses his idolizing of Moxley only to be disappointed at the recent turn of events. Moxley warns him that he is in over his head, and he should reconsider his stubbornness. This leads us to a potential main event for Grand Slam, where Darby will put his title shot on the line against Moxley.
I can see this going one of two directions. The first where Darby loses and has to climb his way back into title contention which could be a running story for 2025, the other direction sees Darby winning and eventually being the one to end Bryan Danielson’s career, likely at the final pay-per-view of 2024: World’s End.
The other big news out of dynamite, Nigel McGuiness announcing he is getting one more match, and he demands to face Bryan Danielson at AEW Grand Slam. The last time these two faced each other was 15 years ago. Talk about long-term storytelling, Nigel has been vicious on commentary, often disparaging Danielson, often teasing that he’d like to beat him up one more time. His surprise entry in the All In Casino Battle Royal sent shockwaves through the wrestling community, leaving many to believe he still has one more match left in him. personally, I’ve been calling this for months upon months so you can imagine my supreme joy with this announcement.
Onto the rest of the show:
Christian Cage and his group kicked off the show explaining that he has no intention of forgetting about his cash in opportunity. getting right to the point he intends on facing Danielson before he retires.
Backstage, Don Callis told Will Ospreay he is cashing in that favor he owed, and wants him to team with Kyle Fletcher tonight in the tag team Casino Battle Royal. Aussie Open reunited!
However, Konosuke Takeshita appeared a bit unhappy when Callis said “there’s no one better than Will Ospreay.” It seems the Callis Family may start to crumble.
The first match of the night featured TNT Champion “Scapegoat” Jack Perry defeating Lio Rush and did so using Danielson’s finisher. Fast paced match, fun to watch. I think Action Andretti needs a gimmick change. something’s not clicking here.
Ricochet defeated Sammy Guevara
Well, there is absolutely no way I can appropriately do this match justice. fast, furious, flippy, body, flying, insane, and yet somehow hard-hitting as well. Ricochet hit one kick on Sammy’s head I thought killed him. There is no surprise both of them put on a hell of a show, the only disappointing part is knowing Ricochet isn’t losing any matches anytime soon. it does take away a little bit of the believability Factor when you know 110% who is winning. After the match ended the Beast Mortos charged and mauled Ricochet. Give me that match please.
There was supposed to be a trios match, but the Blackpool Combat Club destroyed everybody.
Following the previously mentioned promo with Darby and Mox, Mariah May defeated Queen Aminata. This was another fun women’s match, glad to see the Queen back on Dynamite. After the match, Mariah May begged for the return of Mina Shirakawa. I think all fans are begging for her return too.
Up next saw The Learning Tree defeat the Iron Savages and Jacked Jameson. I honestly liked them better when they were known as Bear Country. they’re good but tonight we didn’t get to see any of it. After the match Jericho called out orange Cassidy again over his $7,000 jacket and revealed that there was still a picture of his best friends in his backpack. Jericho went on a tirade about no friends in the wrestling business, which seemed to momentarily mentally stun Big Bill. His reaction was perfect and I can see why he is slowly becoming more over than Jericho.
"There are no friends in pro wrestling… And if you think you have a friend, you're probably being used!"#AEWDynamite @AEW #TheLearningTree @TheCaZXL pic.twitter.com/IkV1drZOR8
— M.S.D. (@OmegaX80) September 12, 2024
Jericho continues his shenanigans only for the Conglomeration to dump 7,000 pennies into Jericho’s new Bentley.
The segment lasted longer than the match
Casino Gauntlet Tag Team Battle Royal
This was a really fun Main event, and I’m honestly surprised with the winners. I figured it would have led to Osprey and Fletcher feuding one-on-one for a while, or something with Takeshita. The show went past the 10pm hour within minutes of the match starting. Entrants included FTR, The Righteous, Undisputed Kingdom, Acclaimed, MxM, Top Flight, The Outrunners, and Grizzled Young Veterans. For those of you paying attention, this seems to be the established roster of tag teams being pushed in the near future.
Can we talk about the Outrunners? They’re online stuff is great, the ’80s throwback VHS tape style promos are fantastic, they’re entering Antics and even in ring promos are spot on perfection. These two guys really embrace the gimmick, and seem to enjoy having fun with it as well. I really thought they were going to win this but perhaps their day in the spotlight will soon come. with all the established teams in this match, I am surprised that the reunited Aussie Open won.
If Moxley wants to start taking championships, why weren’t members of the Combat Club involved in this match? This would have been a prime opportunity to challenge the Young Bucks for the tag team championships. I have to wonder what the goal here is for having Ospreay and Fletcher to challenge the Bucks at AEW Grand Slam. They were pushing on commentary how Osprey has won every Casino Battle Royal he’s been entered into. I don’t like that, as it could take away some of the luster of these matches knowing that Ospreay has been in so many. The company is doing a great job of naturally flowing story lines, they don’t need to shoehorn things like statistics of Ospreay’s winning streak.
Overall this was a fantastic follow-up to an extremely violent pay-per-view. backstage brawl between Adam Page and Jeff Jarrett will likely lead to their own match at Grand slam. The question is whether Hangman will continue to be violent in the ring.
