Welcome everyone to the second edition of #MouthingOff (with MikeJC): Dynamite Weekly, the weekly review feature on AEW Dynamite here on SLTDWrestling.com. I will be giving my thoughts and opinions on all the highlights of the show as well as giving the “Remarkable Wrestler” of the week. So here are the highlights of the special Saturday August 22nd edition of AEW Dynamite.
FTR (with Tully Blanchard) vs. Private Party
AEW Dynamite kicked off with a stellar tag team match. FTR, Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler were making all of their demands like tag ropes being mandatory in their matches very prominently known in the match. FTR spent most of the match using their “cut off the ring style”, while Private Party was trying to do a lot of their usual athletic manoeuvres. As mentioned Tully Blanchard accompanied FTR to the ring, which seemed to surprise commentary.
The match came to an end when Tully got involved by causing Marq Quen to go shoulder first into the turnbuckle, which was followed by the Goodnight Express, and a pinfall for FTR to win.
Segment Rating: 6/10
This was a great match to further show the dominance of FTR over the tag team division. Also, the division is very stacked and that is very evident. I like Tully Blanchard managing FTR and the expected Horsemen-Esque group seems to be in the early stages with this association. It seems to me that Private Party are in the young team who hasn’t discovered their potential yet and that’s fine because they are very young and very talented to boot.
It was announced later in the night that next week the top 4 tag teams in the rankings, The Natural Nightmares, The Best Friends, The Young Bucks, and FTR will compete in a tag team gauntlet to see who faces the tag team champions Kenny Omega & Hangman Page. Page also tried to get some answers about last week which FTR used to see who they could trust and the only person they do trust is Page.
Moxley Speaks/MJF Makes a Statement
Jon Moxley would speak directly to MJF backstage. Called the MJF Campaign amusing, but he’s used to people talking bad about him. Also insinuating that MJF isn’t very tough because the toughest guys don’t need to speak, just fight and MJF is hiding something because of it. He continued by saying he wants MJF to fulfil his potential one day, but he is not going to do that on September 5th, at All Out, when they meet for the title.
MJF would respond flanked by his security and campaign management, as well as “legal council”. MJF would state that Moxley is a coward for attacking him from behind and that Moxley’s Paradigm Shift Finisher is an abomination. His attorney would state that they want on record that the Paradigm Shift is deadly and that they got 5 million signatures on a petition to ban the Paradigm Shift at All Out, and Moxley must sign it or he’ll be sued and he shouldn’t need that move to be a fighting champion.
Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus) & The Natural Nightmares vs. Butcher, Blade & The Lucha Bros.
Another eight-man tag match, this one was kind of short and just like most of them the past couple of weeks we saw a lot of high spots and a lot of back and forth signature moves. Jungle Boy looked great, as per usual. It felt to me like QT Marshall was trying to keep up with everyone else, and Dustin did a cool destroyer spot out of a back body drop.
The matches finish came when Pentagon went to set up his package piledriver and he started arguing with The Blade, they got into a shoving match, which resulted in Jungle scoring a schoolboy pin on Pentagon to get his team the victory. The story after the match saw Butcher, Blade and the Lucha Bros. continue to argue which brought out newly signed, Eddie Kingston. Kingston would say that these four guys need to be on the same and they need to be better than arguing, and Kingston would get the group to do a group hug, while he winked at the camera.
Segment Rating: 5/10
I’d probably rate this match higher if it wasn’t the same 8-man tag match I’ve seen week after week. The Eddie Kingston thing I’m willing to give a shot see where it goes and that actually has me intrigued, but AEW is kind of getting into a formula with these multi-person matches and as we know formulas in wrestling don’t work.
Orange Cassidy “Interview”/Jericho’s Challenge
Tony Schiavone entered the ring to interview Orange Cassidy who was accompanied by The Best Friends. Tony asked Orange for his thoughts on beating Jericho last week. Orange doesn’t get to answer because Jericho interrupts and congratulates Orange for beating him. Jericho said he’s proud of Orange he proved that he has heart.
Jericho says he wants to toast Orange Cassidy but before he does he says they must have a third match. Jericho says since Cassidy loves Orange Juice, and he loves the Bubbly, they are gonna have a “Mimosa Mayhem Match”, at All Out. It is explained in a video that the only way to win is by pinfall, submission, or throwing your opponent into a tank of mimosa. Cassidy accepts with his usual lazy thumbs up and Jericho invites the Inner Circle to toast him. They surround the ring and attack Cassidy and the Best Friends. They hold Cassidy upside down and poor the Bubbly all over him.
Segment Rating: 4/10
I felt like this entire segment and continuation of this feud was completely unnecessary, I felt like last week was the perfect end of this feud and to have another match where the clear reason to have it is just to throw someone in a tank of mimosa is completely unnecessary
The Elite (The Young Bucks & Kenny Omega) vs. The Dark Order (Alex “3” Reynolds, John “4” Silver, & Alan “5” Angels)
This match was way too long, and the Elite gave way too much against three guys they should have beat with ease. Kenny Omega especially gave these guys a lot especially when they were triple-teaming him. In matches like this, the Elite shouldn’t have to fight too much from behind I feel.
This match saw a lot of offense from both teams while the Elite played all the hits, and the referee, Rick Knox, actually enforce rules in a Young Bucks match which hardly ever happens. The finish came when John Silver received an Indytaker followed by the One-Winged Angel for the pin.
Following the match, a noticeably frustrated Kenny Omega went to powerbomb Silver on an upside-down unfolded chair, but the Young Bucks kicked the chair away and talked some sense into Kenny.
Segment Rating: 5/10
I love The Elite, but this match was just too long for who they were facing and they should have won in a more decisive fashion.
I’m curious about where this change in attitude for Omega is gonna go and whether its gonna lead him down a new road maybe after him and Hangman eventually lose the tag belts.
Darby Allin in Action/Team Taz Attacks
Darby Allin had a quick match against Will Hobbs which he won handily, but the real story happened after the match. Taz got on the mic and told Darby their eas a new member of Team Taz. Outcomes Ricky Starks dressed as Darby Allin. Starks goes on to mock Darby and causes a distraction that leads to Brian Cage attacking Darby from behind. Starks says that Darby hides behind the face paint and that Starks doesn’t need it because he’s “Absolute” Ricky Starks. Then he continues to mock Darby by hitting a second rope Coffin Drop.
Segment Rating: 6/10
I rather enjoyed this segment, it further showed the range of Ricky Starks, and furthered the feud between Team Taz and Darby Allin. I suspect this will lead to a match at All Out, presumably a tag match, with Darby having to find a partner.
Matt Hardy Loses It/Thunder Rosa Appears
During the commercial break, Matt Hardy attacks Sammy Guevara who came out on the stage to do his usual signs with messages. Matt attacks him from behind, throws him off the stage through a table, and goes to throw a chair at his face like Guevara did to him but he’s stopped by security and Guevara is taken by the doctors.
Following this, we are told by the announcers that there is a message from Thunder Rosa. She does a pre-recorded promo towards Hikaru Shida with the NWA Women’s World Championship, challenging her to a match for Shida’s Championship at All Out.
Deadly Draw Finals: Nightmare Sisters (Brandi Rhodes & Allie) vs. Diamante & Ivelisse
This match saw a lot of back and forth action, with both teams getting a lot of offense in. I still don’t know what they were fighting for exactly and they haven’t been very clear what the winner gets except a pointless trophy that means nothing.
The finish came when QT Marshall who was at ringside for Allie, jumped up on the apron to cause a distraction but he gets knocked down by Ivelisse, and then Ivelisse hits a snapmare into a rolling kick on Allie to secure the victory for her team.
Segment Rating: 4/10
The reason for the low rating is because they failed to draw me in and make me care about this match or the tournament as a whole. They failed to tell me why this tournament was happening in the first place, and they failed to tell me why the people who win this tournament should care about doing so. Not to mention as now the winners don’t even work for the company.
TNT Championship: Cody(c) vs. Brodie Lee
This match was a complete mauling. Brodie Lee was in control for three-quarters of the match. The start of the match saw Cody get his only offense, a couple of kicks to the gut. From there Brodie took complete control demolishing Cody.
Inside the ring and out Brodie was in control, and the finish came when Brodie hit too straight devastating looking powerbombs, followed by a discus lariat for the pin, and a new TNT Champion, Brodie Lee.
Post-match, saw Cody be tied to a stretcher while Brodie cut a promo about him winning the title means the Dark Order is in control now, and this win was for everyone who doubted him and held him down. The Dark Order proceed to attack Arn Anderson and knock Cody off the stretcher pick him up and strike him with a bag filled with the pieces of the old TNT Championship.
They also attack Dustin and QT Marshall backstage and lay them next to Cody on the stage. Brandi comes out and lays over Cody who isn’t moving, and Anna Jay chokes her out and leaves her laying to close the show
Segment Rating: 7/10
I felt this was a great way to show that Brodie Lee can be taken seriously and helped establish some kind of hope for the Dark Order who was starting to look like jokes by losing every big match they were in.
I’m also very curious as to why The Elite were nowhere to be found during this attack and if that will play into the story, and maybe force Cody to distance himself from them down the line.
Remarkable Wrestler of the Week
For this episode of AEW Dynamite, the Remarkable Wrestler of the Week is Brodie Lee.
Brodie Lee showed nothing but dominance in his match with Cody and proved that he is champion material. He toyed with Cody in their match and made a huge statement that will go a long way in his future in AEW.
Overall
So that’s everything that took place on the special Saturday edition of AEW Dynamite on August 22nd. Overall I give this show a 5 out of 10. The best segment was Brodie Lee dominating over Cody, with The opening tag match and Starks attack and promo on Darby being close behind. The worst segment was easily the women’s tag tournament finals because I haven’t been given a reason to care about it or be excited for it because there’s no real prize at the moment.
What are your thoughts on Saturday Night AWE Dynamite? Let us know in the comments below or tweet us @SLTD Wrestling
Follow Mouthing Off: @MikeJC821
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