Full Gear is just two weeks away, and opens with a preview of sorts as Christian Cage and “Hangman” Adam Page defeat Jay White and Juice Robinson. Fun opener which could have gone either way. Great chemistry with all four. It was fun to watch. Hangman and White come Full Gear will be phenomenal. Hell, give me Robinson vs. Christian Cage and that’ll be great too. During the match, Hook abducted Nick Wayne.
Lots of story here. I know not everyone might be into the Hook/Wayne feud, but it’ll be good in the long run I hope. Kip Sabian absolutely cracked the Cash-in case over Juice’s head. Dented it to hell.
Will Ospreay in the ring, calls out Kyle Fletcher, with Ospreay demanding Fletcher disarm himself. Very freakishly cool moment, Ospreay takes the screwdriver and throws it with enough force it stabs through the arena mat on the floor. They cut scathing promos on each other until inevitably each one brings out their backup, with Brian Cage and Lance Archer and on the other side Mark Davis and Will Hobbs. Things get chaotic as a brawl breaks out while Roderick Strong’s theme hits for his entry into his match against Archer. Their match is Falls Count Anywhere and is just an absolute car crash. Stables get involved, Strong at some point gets his arm sliced open but still hits a diving knee for the win. However, as the brawl continues, Adam Cole and Konosuke Takeshita flow immediately into their matchup. Pretty decent match, however, thanks to the use of MJF’s Dynamite Ring, the AEW International Champion sucker punches Cole for the win. This means, Roderick Strong will face MJF at Full Gear as Adam Cole fails to qualify. Post match The Callis Family start attacking, but Kyle O’Reilly rushes in to make the save. Unfortunately things don’t go well. Thank you Daniel Warren Johnson for the correct response.<
Best nut shot in the history of wrestling at the 5 second mark https://t.co/RiOK0AQFWK
— Daniel Warren Johnson (@danielwarrenart) November 14, 2024
Maybe a tease to reunite Undisputed? Nah. Not likely. Not now anyway. Kyle leaves after Cole attempts to shake his hand.
I had a hard time imagining Takeshita eating a singles loss unless it wasn’t clean, but Cole losing makes things very interesting. Either this gets dragged out past Full Gear, or perhaps next week Cole gets a chance at redemption… By facing a defeating Strong to get the spot at the PPV.
The Deathriders show up and for some reason brutalize J.D. Drake.
Mox cuts another promo about “taking over” until Orange Cassidy comes out with some of his own buddies, trash talks down Wheeler Yuta and in my opinion cuts a better promo than Mox.
I don’t mind this angle where Mox wants to change or take over the company, but wouldn’t that involve some more widespread carnage? They didn’t go after The Elite at all until the same night the Young Bucks ran away. It’s starting to feel a bit repetitive. Plus, you have Marina Shafir as the female powerhouse of the group, yet she’s relegated to bashing people with the briefcase instead of facing other women in the company. Yuta is being passed around like a runt of the litter. It’s like the kid who wants to fit in, aligns with the bullies so he doesn’t get mauled.
I have no doubt the match at Full Gear will be really good. Cassidy emphasizing wrestling match over and over should hopefully reduce fears it will be nothing but a brawl, which seems to be Mox’s style lately. Give us a wrestling match, make wrestling fans happy.
Things get wild as The Death Riders make their exit, only for Darby Allin to jump off a ledge and all hell breaks loose. They try to drive away but Darby jumps into their truck. Claudio grabs Darby, swinging him around into the steel elevating door. Insane. Yuta finally catches up. See, they were going to abandon him! Is Yuta really part of the group or just a lackey?
Learning Tree Backstage: Jericho accepts Ishii’s challenge for the ROH World Championship in two weeks on Dynamite. I’m bummed this won’t be at Full Gear, because I will be at Full Gear.
Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. defeated Penelope Ford
Okay match. A few minutes seemed off, but overall not bad. One moment had me convinced Ford could have potentially won, but Baker countered into the submission victory.
Backstage: Renee is interviewing the returning Mina Shirakawa who is looking forward to Mariah May’s title defense against Anna Jay, that is until Marley Cameron shows up and steals the champagne. One psychotic promo leads to two sets of shimmies taking place as Renee can’t take it anymore. Hysterical.
Mina Shirakawa is back in #AEW!
But, can she survive the WRATH of Harley Cameron this Saturday night on #AEWCollision?!Watch #AEWDynamite LIVE on TBS!@ReneePaquette | @MinaShirakawa | @harleycameron_ pic.twitter.com/OtGv3lo7lC
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) November 14, 2024
Swerve Strickland defeated Lio Rush
What in the hell is Lio Rush wearing to the ring? Regardless, this was a phenomenal match. Opening with some exchanges leading into a stalemate. Some pretty insane reversals, and of course some neck-shattering spots. The action was too hot to call, so make sure you watch this on a replay if you haven’t seen it live. These are the matches which tribalists will hate just for the sake of hating, yet when Rey Mysterio and Psychosis did this stuff in the early-to-mid 90s no one complained. They may flip and fly, but when they hit slams, drivers, plexes, and bombs, you will pay attention.
Post match, the Hurt Business cut off Swerve’s promo and unleashed an almighty beatdown on the former World Champion. Swerve vs. Lashley is going to be good, I just wonder if this could have been built up a bit more. I’m hoping we start to see more members of the stable soon enough.
House of Black (Malakai Black and Brody King) defeated FTR
Near-perfect main event. The finish was one of the best sequences I have seen. Dax kicking out of lariat, after lariat, after lariat was unbelievable, and it took Brody choking him out to seal the victory. Even better, showed how Brody had to make Dax pass out in order to win. Dax came out looking like a fighter. The entire match from bell-to-bell was great. I’d love to see this again.
Now, given the result, this means we will not see Outrunner and FTR have to square off at Full Gear. Perhaps though, this is a stretch, The Outrunners somehow win the championships and then have to defend against FTR. Now that would be some Mega Power Explosion right there.
Very much enjoyed this episode of Dynamite. Even with some cold segments, overall I felt this show delivered more than anticipated. I also feel as though many are underestimating Full Gear. I feel each year many feel it is passable on paper, and then somehow tremendously delivers. I expect a similar result. However, many of these matches will unquestionably be good, it’s whether the whole show can prove to be PPV-quality from start to finish.
I just want Eddie Kingston back.
 that saw Mox takeover, FTR take the L and so much more.){kind=link}