October 6th, 2021
Philadelphia, PA
1) SUPER ELITE (Kenny Omega, Adam Cole, & The Young Bucks) (w/ Michael Nakazawa & Brandon Cutler) vs. Bryan Danielson, Christian Cage, Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus (w/ Marko Stunt)
Broadcast goes live with all 8 of these men already in the ring ready for action with the crowd roaring. Such a cool opening that I enjoyed much more than I anticipated coming off the announcement that the entrances would be streamed solely online before they went live. It definitely gave off a different vibe and was worth it for the extra time this probably got because of it. This was honestly just fucking awesome. You had all the crazy spots you’d expect, the face in peril in the form of Jungle Boy which led to the amazing hot tag for American Dragon. Coming off that hot tag, we get Danielson & Omega face to face finally in a moment that felt just as huge as when they wrestled two weeks ago. The shots they threw when they finally came to blows after a bit of a stare down somehow looked even more stuff than when they first clashed. Just good, good shit. Closing run sees everyone going absolutely bonkers. Everybody gets some dives and shit in. Shenanigans happens, though and the Super Elite pick up the victory with Cole pinning Jungle Boy. They are finally using the Super Elite theme “Packing Heat” that’s been on Spotify for a long time now so I popped hard for that. This just ruled all the way around.
Match rating - ****
Backstage, Jon Moxley said he’s going crazy with his baby girl at home and he’s gonna use it to heighten his insanity in the ring and win the Ladder Match tonight in route to getting his title back.
CM Punk is out and he talks about his history in Philly and how he lived there for 3 years. This is all eventually to set up his match with Daniel Garcia for Rampage. This was your usual Punk promo as of late which is always good, seeing him every single week on TV again for the first time in 7 years will never get old. I love that they are calling back to the 2.0/Garcia attacks on him. It makes way more sense and is way more exciting than continuing a feud with Team Taz.
Arn Anderson is burning shit in a barrel in Cody’s backyard. Cody comes out and asks if he’s gonna shoot him LOL. As an avid listener of the Everything Elite podcast and as a member of their Patreon, this was my listener pick for “elite or delete” and it actually made air on the show which made my day at work Thursday so shout out to them and go listen to their podcast on all streaming platforms, it rules. But yeah. Arn is still running Cody down and burns his tie and stuff. Interested to see what this leads to.
2) Sammy Guevara (c) vs. Bobby Fish - TNT Title Match
As much disinterest and negative opinions I have on Bob Fish, this was a good match. I'm not amped they are signing him full time but whatever. One redeeming factor is that we get to hear Dance Away, the old ReDragon theme again. But still fuck this guy honestly. Sammy looked great here and had a lot of fire. Some niiiiice near falls down the stretch and yeah. Guevara retains.
Match rating - ***1/4
After the match, American Top Team & Scorpio Sky attack Sammy. Chris Jericho & Jake Hager out for the big save to pop the Inner Circle heads. Nice little moment, for sure. This Top Team stuff is doing much better than I anticipated now that it’s rolling. There will be a trios match on Dynamite next week Jericho/Hager/Guevara v Scorpio/Ethan Page/Junior Dos Santos. Good segment to set that match up.
Tony Schiavone & Aubrey Edwards are in the ring after the break to introduce the TBS Title, a title that will be in effect starting January 5th when Dynamite moves to TBS and a title that will be exclusive to the Women’s Division. Hell yeah! Is the first time that there’s been a women’s division title in a mainstream wrestling company that wasn’t just a “women’s title”? If so, pretty cool.
The Acclaimed have a tag team title shot on Rampage on Friday. They rap about it.
Sit down interview with Darby Allin by JR. Its pretty great as Darby explains the story MJF brought into the open last week about the car accident Darby was in as a child with his drunk uncle who passed away which leads to Darby explaining why he paints his face. Really good stuff.
3) Darby Allin vs. Nick Comoroto
This is about what you’d expect. They always seem to find a way to throw both of these guys on the card in some fashion so it is kinda funny that it’s against each other. Most of this took place during the commercial break so there’s not much to it, but yeah. Darby wins after getting thrown around for a bit.
After the match, QT Marshall tries to attack Sting, but eats a Scorpion Death Drop.
The Dark Order is backstage. They are getting along again and Evil Uno says he is no longer trying to be a leader and all decisions will be made by voting. They all vote for Alan Angels to put his damn mask back on LMAO. Anna Jay breaks up some arguing over it and yeah. Love these fuckers.
DANTE MARTIN IS HERE. In ring segment for the young king. He cuts a pretty decent promo saying he’s shown everyone he can go against the best these last few weeks and he basically says he’s game to face anyone on the roster. LIGHTS OUT. MALAKAI BLACK IS BEHIND HIM WHEN THEY COME BACK ON. MALAKAI LAYS HIM. MALAKAI/DANTE NEXT WEEK LETS GO. I pray it’s not a squash. If they gave Lee Johnson as much as they did against Malakai they better fucking give Dante just as much.
And here comes the only part of the show I had no interest in. Thankfully it’s short, but poor Ricky Starks who has been drowning in this FTW/Cage feud thing comes out for a promo. Cage runs down and blah blah. It’s the same segment we’ve seen a bunch. Cage/Starks philly street fight on Rampage on Friday hopefully to FINALLY end this.
4) Hikaru Shida vs. Serena Deeb
This was pretty great. Shida is fighting for her 50th win and long story short, Serena spoils the party and it’s fantastic. I just love that they spiced it up and did something different with a women’s program for once. They wrestle a good match and Deeb wins then smashes what would have been Shida’s little trophy / glass award thing for her 50th win. YES. Now we have to have another match right? Serena not only cut Shida short of this moment, but she disrespected her afterwards. Yes yes YES. Let’s GO.
Match rating - ***
In the parking lot, Darby is informed of a challenge MJF made for him next week. Darby accepts only for a limo to pull up. Masked men who are clearly the Pinnacle attack him and beat his ass.
Lio Rush cuts a promo on how he has interest in Dante Martin. ID BE DOWN WITH THAT TEAM. Shit, put him with Top Flight when Darius comes back and run that trio!
Britt Baker is backstage. She says she’s glad there’s finally something for the jealous bitches who won’t leave her alone to do (the TBS Title). She says they can have it and have the tournament, she will be watching from the top.
5) Jon Moxley vs. PAC vs. Orange Cassidy vs. Matt Hardy vs. Andrade El Idolo vs. Lance Archer vs. Hangman Adam Page - Casino Ladder Match
As you probably know, entrants come out in intervals here. There is a Joker and that Joker/surprise entrant was the returning HANGMAN ADAM PAGE. That was the undoubted highlight of this match and it got a well deserved insane pop, proving Page hasn’t lost any momentum despite being gone whilst Punk, Bryan, Cole etc debuted. This match was indeed all about Page, but there was so much more good stuff packed in here. The way they laid out pretty much this entire thing was brilliant. They highlighted and touched on past current feuds. Archer met Moxley in the crowd to fight when his entrance came about, we got a throwback to Revolution 2020 with PAC & Orange to start the match, and the first time interactions between Andrade & Orange ruled. Lots of awesome spots throughout with the highlight being Hangman Page’s DEAD EYE TO PAC OFF THE TOP OF THE LADDER THROUGH A FUCKING TABLE. Absolute bonkers shit and the commentary did an awesome job recalling the Page/PAC feud from back in 2019 when the company first started. I also have to mention the Hangman/Moxley interaction that began right when Page entered was possibly my favorite part of all of this. That is a money PPV main event for the AEW World Title waiting to happen as soon as Page dethrones Omega. I’m just dying to see it. People were booing Mox because of how much they love Page, for fucks sake. That’s just crazy! Plus, it would totally play in to the promos Mox has been cutting about everyone wanting to be a part of AEW including the one where he mentioned Hangman saying he could drink him under the table and beat his ass. So, yeah, I think the table is being set for that one. But for now, Hangman gets the huge victory to become the true #1 contender FINALLY. PAGE / OMEGA. THE TIME IS NOW. Awesome match, heartwarming moment, perfect celebration with Page drinking beer on top of the ladder with a roaring crowd behind him to close the show.
Match rating - ****1/4
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