Happy Birthday to my good buddy Ronn Blitzer!
AEW Dynamite 11/30 live from Indianapolis kicks off with some major mind blowing events. For starters, Jon Moxley hits the ring to extend a challenge to anyone bold enough to step in the ring, and the returning “HANGMAN” ADAM PAGE goes face-to-face. Well, Mox quick with the verbal jabs, questions whether Page can remember what happened the last time they faced off.
FIGHT!!
Now this is how you start a show. Right to the point. Page and Mox getting back to where they left off, but I am legitimately surprised Mox hasn’t taken time off yet. I figured long overdue by now.
Backstage: JAS & BCC interview with Renee Paquette
Verbal jabs with Claudio and Yuta portraying the serious wrestlers with Garcia, Hager, Minard, and Parker as the arrogant entertainers. We get an upcoming tag match with Hager and Garcia, with Yuta then challenging Garcia to put the ROH Pure Championship on the line at Final Battle.
I still believe Garcia will inevitably turn on the JAS. AEW has a habit of not striking when the iron is hot, and they could have taken Garcia to the moon if he would have made a face turn. Now he’s stuck in a stable with nowhere to go.
Samoa Joe defeated AR Fox
Not a bad match, Fox got to show off some of his arsenal, but ultimately Joe was too overpowered for Fox to withstand. Post match, Joe gloats about being a double champion until Wardlow on screen, reminding Joe, this is AEW, and this is Wardlow’s World. The live crowd chants for Wardlow which appears to shock Joe.
Still waiting for the team-up with Elmo.
Quick spotlight on Hook retaining the FTW Championship against Lee Moriarty. Proud dad Taz pinpoints how Hook won.
Promo for Powerhouse Hobbs, showing walking around some mean streets with various thugs keeping away from the big man. This will be a series of Hobbs “returning to his roots” or some cliched comeback. I’m not a fan. Hobbs was in the mid-card title hunt and he should remain there. He was choked out by Samoa Joe, it would make the most sense for Hobbs to want revenge.
William Regal heads out to the ring to introduce the brand spankin’ new AEW World Champion, Maxwell Jacob Friedman! Regal and MJF explain how their alliance formed, with MJF taking the majority of the segment to reiterate his newfound dominance as World Champion. Much is honest and factual. The “Bidding War of 2024” how he plans on being the champion who isn’t on TV every week, and if you want to see the champ, buy a PPV. Name drops Triple H and Nick Khan, as well as condescending remarks about past world heavyweight champions in history.
He also takes shots at Eddie Kingston and Bryan Danielson as individuals who will never see gold as long as he is around.
The big moment is the reveal of a custom world championship, the Burberry plaid title belt, and a second one when MJF thanks Regal, and puts him over as being the quintessential villain in wrestling for decades… By blasting him in the back of the head with the Brass Knuckles.
Takeaways: This keeps Regal relatively within babyface territory, although I imagine his actions will always be a cloud of skepticism. The announce team got way too over-dramatic and overdescriptive following the blindsided attack. Yes, we can see Danielson rushed out lacking gear, let the fans use their own eyes and make their own interpretations. Lastly, the segment went a bit longer than it needed. Granted MJF had his moments of verbal decimation, but maybe some could have been saved. Regardless, this delivered exactly what AEW needs to set the nefarious tone of things to come with the Devil of AEW, MJF.
The commentary from Tony Schiavone was brilliant. His believable disgust towards Friedman was the best addition to this segment. He hates MJF. It’s brilliant.
After the segment, Danielson is seen jumping into the ambulance as Regal is taken to the hospital.
Ricky Starks defeated Ari Davari
Stokely Hathaway and Ethan Page talk trash from the entrance ramp as Starks squashees Davari. As much as I would like to believe Starks is a contender, this seems as filler and a throwaway. Starks will be a main event contender, just not now.
Backstage: Tony Schiavone is with AEW Women’s Champion Jamie Hayter, Dr. Britt Baker, and Rebel. They take offense to Saraya getting yet another “sit down” interview, while Hayter, the new champion doesn’t.
Willow Nightingale defeated Ana Jay
Decent match, with clear fan admiration for Willow. She got to display her impressive offense in defeating Ana Jay, despite Tay Melo’s interference. Post match, as Ana and Tay regroup, RUBY SOHO hits the ring, laying them both out! Ruby is back!
Two injury returns tonight, unexpected and played out very well.
Jade Cargill Celebration Segment
Puts herself over while belittling the women’s locker room and even her two cohorts at her side. At some point I couldn’t quite follow what she was getting at, until Bow Wow comes on-screen to throw down some sort of challenge, but unclear audio left us wondering what was said. Hopefully the live audience caught it. Otherwise, uneventful. The bit with Bow Wow was rushed, while Cargill’s gloating went on for too long. Should have been the opposite.
Backstage: QT Marshall attempts a long-wided challenge, except Orange Cassidy cuts him off with a quick acceptance and walks off. Brilliant.
Main Event of AEW Dynamite 11/30: The Elite defeated Death Triangle to win Round 3 of the Best of Seven
Good match, a bit toned back from the other two, but still contained the sort of fast-paced high-spots we have come to expect from both squads.
Time-wise much quicker, which is fine. Not every one of these matches needs to be 20-minutes long. Also, it’s fairly obvious we’re getting all seven matches. This time the Elite portrayed a no-quit mentality and put to good use as Matt Jackson deflected a Black Arrow from PAC, getting the knees up as a counter, then rolling PAC up for the pinfall. Clean finish.
Full Gear did prove to be the palette cleanser AEW has needed, the last two weeks of Dynamite have constructed a new foundation for the next few months to build on, and the Winter is Coming supercard will further expand on these long-term plans. The majority of tonight’s show was successful, one cannot ignore the obvious duds throughout the night. Hobbs getting a full reset seems wasteful, let him continue staking Samoa Joe or Wardlow. Speaking of which, AR Fox being promoted heavily on social media as a new signing for AEW is fed to the Human Wrecking Machine. Why not give him a better spotlight on the flagship show?
The Cargill bit was horrendous. It didn’t seem believable and half the time no one understood what she was saying, and it wasn’t because of the technical equipment. Either the forgot or overstated her lines. She cannot do live promos unless she’s cursing and we’ve quite had enough of that already.
Starks squashing someone was pointless.
Again, I reiterate, AEW’s undergoing some changes and it does appear worthwhile to see everything through, and how it all ties together.
