NWA Women’s Champion Thunder Rosa appeared on Dynamite tonight, challenging Hirkau Shida to a match at All Out next month.
Rosa appeared in a pre-taped interview with the NWA Women’s championship and was identified as champion. She called out Hikaru Shida, citing her call for challengers and challenged her to a match at All Out for the AEW Women’s championship. Rosa finished the promo by saying she would become the next AEW Women’s champion.
Hikaru Shida did not appear on the program tonight and no response was given.
Rosa won the NWA Women’s championship back on January 24 at NWA Hard Times. The promotion has not run any shows since February due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Rosa last defended the NWA Women’s title against Melina, winning the match by count out.
Shida hasn’t wrestled for most of this last month, last defeating Heather Monroe on the August 12 edition of AEW Dynamite. She last defended the AEW Women’s championship by defeating Penelope Ford on the July 1 edition of Dynamite.
A TNT title match headlines tonight’s special Saturday edition of AEW Dynamite.
Cody will defend the TNT Championship against Mr. Brodie Lee. Cody has managed eight successful title defenses since becoming the inaugural TNT Champion at Double or Nothing in May.
The AEW Women’s Tag Team Cup Tournament Final will take place tonight. The Nightmare Sisters will face Diamante and Ivelisse in the final of The Deadly Draw Tournament to determine the Cup winner.
The Elite will face off against The Dark Order in a six-man tag as The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega team against Alex Reynolds, John Silver and Alan Angels.
The Lucha Brothers will tag up with The Butcher and The Blade against Natural Nightmares and Jurassic Express in eight-man tag action.
FTR will face Private Party in a tag match. Darby Allin will also be in action against an unannounced opponent.
Orange Cassidy’s first in-ring interview has been advertised for the show, as well as promos by Jon Moxley and MJF.
Our coverage begins following the conclusion of the NBA playoff game.
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Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone and Taz were the announce team for the show.
The show began with the opening bell for the first match.
FTR (w/Tully Blanchard) defeated Private Party
I was wondering if I had missed an angle with Blanchard joining up with FTR but apparently not. Here Tully was with an FTR jacket.
The match started with a solid exchange, both teams trading offense. FTR eventually cut off Marq Quen. This was clunky at times as Quen is the greener half of Private Party. Harwood and Wheeler worked over Quen.
They built to a hot tag to Isiah Kassidy. Kassidy hit a springboard cutter on Wheeler and a slingshot cutter on Harwood for a near fall. Quen blind tagged in and hit a springboard crossbody for another two count.
Quen and Wheeler ended up the legal men. Kassidy tried a plancha to Harwood but Blanchard pulled Harwood out of the way and Kassidy crashed to the floor.
Harwood tagged back in and FTR hit the Goodnight Express for the pin.
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The sound mix was way off for this show. The crowd sweetening was drowning out the announcers.
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Jon Moxley cut a good promo. He said MJF’s campaign makes for good TV and it’s entertaining but he doesn’t need to hear his faults from MJF. He said if you want a list of his faults just ask his wife.
Moxley said he doesn’t like people who constantly talk about themselves like MJF does. He said all MJF’s talking makes him think MJF is hiding something.
He said he hopes MJF is who he says he is, the man to carry the company for decades. Moxley said he wants the company to succeed for years and years and most days Mox thinks he might not have another 18 months left he’s so beat up. He said he hopes MJF can also move out of his parents’ basement and lose his virginity.
Moxley promised to punch, kick, elbow and smash MJF’s skull with his skull on September 5. He said MJF will be champ one day but that day won’t be September 5.
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MJF cut a promo surrounded by his campaign staff and legal team. He was wearing a neck brace.
MJF compared Dictator Jon to Nixon and Castro. He said that the Paradigm Shift is an abomination and has left him mangled. MJF said he wants to have a family one day, with kids, he clarified. He said he won’t be able to play catch with his kids as a result of the Paradigm Shift.
MJF’s lawyer took over from there and cut a promo. He mentioned an online petition to ban the Paradigm Shift, which could be deadly according to some medical experts he’s talked to.
The lawyer said that if Mox doesn’t agree to ban the Paradigm Shift from his title defense against MJF he’ll sue him and wants him to sign the contract he’s drawn up banning the move.
This was a paint by numbers old school rassling angle the likes of which we rarely see any more. Good times.
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Luchasaurus, Jungle Boy, Dustin Rhodes & QT Marshall defeated Butcher, Blade, Rey Fenix & Pentagon Jr.
This began with a wild sequence that saw Pentagon and Fenix hit stereo topes. The heels beat on QT for a bit. QT managed a tag to Rhodes. Rhodes got cut off and worked over through a commercial break.
Luchasaurus got a hot tag after the break. Jungle Boy went for a tope suicida on Butcher but Butcher didn’t catch him. Jungle Boy hit a tope suicida on Fenix, then a tope con giro on Butcher and Blade, showing tremendous confidence that they would catch him after dropping him moments before.
Luchasaurus hit some kicks. He hit a rough looking chokeslam on Pentagon and a standing moonsault. Everyone jumped in for big moves. Dustin hit a destroyer but didn’t get all of it and almost landed on his head. He should probably retire that one.
Jungle Boy and Blade ended up the legal men. Blade and Pentagon argued over who should hit their finish on Jungle Boy, allowing Jungle Boy to roll up Blade for the pin.
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After the match, Lucha Bros and Butcher and Blade started pushing and shoving.
Eddie Kingston entered and cut a good promo. He said that they all came from the indies and now they’re on TNT. He said TNT knows drama but that doesn’t mean there shoud be drama between the five of them.
Kingston said the only thing holding them back from being champs was a lack of unity. He said to stick together and stick with him, so those five look to be a new group.
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They showed a Dr. Britt Baker vignette. Baker and Reba were in a gym with Penelope Ford and Kip Sabian. Ford and Sabian were making out. Baker warned them that the number one cavity-causing bacteria is spread through human saliva and they’ve been spreading a lot back and forth.
Baker offered them a year of free dental care if they joined Reba and her in a handicap match against Big Swole. Sabian and Ford didn’t answer.
Baker then offered a year of free makeup from Reba for Ford if they accepted. Ford agreed. All Sabian cared about was going back to making out.
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Tony Schiavone introduced Orange Cassidy. Cassidy came to the ring with Best Friends. Before he spoke, Chris Jericho interrupted.
Jericho came to the stage and put Cassidy over with a total babyface promo. He said he’s only been pinned three times in AEW and Cassidy has a win over him.
Jericho challenged Cassidy to a rubber match at All Out. Jericho said he created one of the most famous gimmick matches ever involving a briefcase and a ladder. Jericho said he’s done it again and threw to a video package.
The video detailed the rules of a Mimosa Mayhem Match.
500 cases of champagne will be mixed in a tank at ringside with 80 gallons of orange juice. You win by pinfall, submission or throwing your opponent in the tank.
Cassidy accepted the challenge.
Jericho came to the ring with champagne to toast Cassidy and Best Friends, but called out Inner Circle first.
Inner Circle surrounded the ring and attacked on Jericho’s signal. Jericho and Inner Circle left Cassidy and Best Friends laying and Jericho poured champagne all over Cassidy.
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The Elite defeated The Dark Order
This was a very good match.
This started off as you would expect with The Elite taking most of the offense. Things turned when Matt’s series of northern lights suplexes was interrupted. Matt was briefly victim of a 3-on-1 but managed a tag to Omega. Omega got cut off and worked over through an ad break.
Nick Jackson’s hot tag began during a commercial break which is just brutal timing. The Bucks went for an Indytaker but it was blocked. Silver got a near fall off a double stomp.
The action really intensified near the finish. Nick hit a crazy series of dives. Omega helped The Bucks hit an assisted Indytaker on Angels. Omega then used the One-Winged Angel on Angels for the pin.
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Omega continued assaulting Angels after the match. The Bucks tried to talk sense to him but he acted unhinged before finally calming down.
I’m not a fan of teasing dissent between members of The Elite. They have done this constantly for months and months, first with Page and now with Omega. This has to pay off at some point, right?
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Alex Marvez was with FTR and Blanchard backstage.
Marvez announced a gauntlet match on next week’s Dynamite to determine Page and Omega’s challnegers at All Out.
The match will begin with fourth-ranked Natural Nightmares and third-ranked Young Bucks. The winner of that match will immediately face the second-ranked Best Friends. The winner of that match will face top-ranked FTR.
Marvez then interviewed FTR and Blanchard. He asked what the relationship between them was. Wheeler said they want to learn from the best. Blanchard said he’s going to take FTR from almost to crossing the threshold.
Page entered and confronted FTR for attacking Rock ‘n’ Roll Express last week. They said that was their business and didn’t concern him. Wheeler said they wanted to honor Rock ‘n’ Roll but they turned their backs on them.
Harwood said he had to fake a knee injury because after seven years of The Bucks talking trash about FTR he had to know if he could trust them. He said when he was pretending to be hurt only Wheeler and Page came to check on them.
Harwood then tried to convince Page that it would be best for him if The bucks didn’t win the gauntlet because they’d keep him in their shadow.
So the tease is that Page might turn on The Bucks next week on Dynamite so he and Omega can defend against his buddies FTR at All Out.
There are about three months worth of storylines that have played out in about six minutes of TV with this FTR angle.
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Darby Allin defeated Will Hobbs
Allin ran in and attacked before the opening bell. He hit a tope suicida. Hobbs took over and hit a backdrop and a spinebuster.
Allin answered with a springboard elbow and a Coffin Drop for the pin.
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Taz cut a promo from the announce desk immediately after the match. He said Team Taz is rolling. He introduced the newest member of Team Taz, Darby.
Ricky Starks came out dressed as Darby. He cut a promo mocking Allin’s persona. Taz did some obnoxious fake laughing.
Brian Cage attacked Allin from behind. Starks then came to the ring and cut a strong promo on Allin before laying him out with a skateboard shot.
Starks hit a Coffin Drop on Allin and the segment ended with Starks and Cage posing over Allin.
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They shot an angle during a commercial break.
Sammy Guevara came to the stage with his Love Actually cards to send Matt Hardy a message.
Hardy attacked Guevara with a chair and laid him out.
Please don’t shoot angles during commercials. Thanks.
Hardy continued the attack after the break. He threw Guevara off the stage through a table.
Hardy grabbed the same kind of chair that Guevara busted him open with a couple of weeks ago and threatened to use it but referees intervened.
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Schiavone threw to a pre-taped promo from NWA Women’s World Champion Thunder Rosa.
Rosa cut a great promo. She said she heard Shida’s call for challengers and she’s hear to help. Rosa said she will take Hikaru Shida’s AEW Women’s World Championship from her at the PPV.
Rosa is a good worker and a good talker so that match should be something to look forward to.
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Veda Scott joined the announce desk for the Deadly Draw Finals. Shaul Guerrero was the special ring announcer.
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AEW Women’s Tag Team Cup finals: Ivelisse & Diamante defeated Nightmare Sisters (w/ Natural Nightmares) to win the tournament
This match should not have aired on international television.
Brandi and Ivelisse began and traded a couple of spots before Allie and Diamante tagged in. Diamante got cut off and worked over through a commercial break.
Brandi and Ivelisse got tags. Brandi hit a spear. Allie and Diamante tagged back in. Allie hit Rabbit Hole for a near fall. Brandi teased a pedigree on Ivelisse but got tossed outside.
Marshall jumped on the apron. Ivelisse bumped him off the apron. Diamante hit something resembling a cutter and pinned Allie.
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Madusa was their to present medals, flowers and the cup to the winners. Diamante and Ivelisse threw the flowers down and celebrated with Puerto Rican flags.
All of this felt rushed and the match was awful.
If you would like to look on the bright side, Veda Scott was good on commentary, no easy feat in that particular booth.
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Jericho on commentary, the tag team gauntlet match, Matt Hardy vs. Sammy Guevara in a tables match, a Moxley/MJF contract signing and Big Swole vs. Britt Baker in a handicap match were announced for next week’s Dynamite.
The main event is next.
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TNT Championship match: Mr. Brodie Lee defeated Cody (w/Arn Anderson) to win the title
Cody tried a flurry of strikes at the opening bell. Lee came back right away with a dropkick before throwing Cody over the top rope to the floor. Lee sent Cody into the barricade and tossed some chairs around.
Back inside, Lee hit a half-and-half suplex and a release German.
Lee hit a discus lariat. Cody took a flip bump and got pinned in a total squash match.
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Dark Order came to the ring to celebrate with Lee. Tony Schiavone went to the ring to interview Lee.
Lee said he has the power and the say-so now that he has the TNT title. He says executives like Schiavone held him down and created him.
Cody was in the background meanwhile being tended to by paramedics. They did a stretcher job complete with an oxygen mask for Cody.
Cody gave a thumbs up as he was carted to the tunnel. Dark Order intercepted Cody. Arn started to fight his way through Dark Order but was quickly cut off and hit with a thrust kick by Lee.
Dark Order dumped Cody off the stretcher and Lee continued to assault him. Lee hit Cody with a loaded satchel. We would see later that the satchel held the old TNT title.
Dustin and QT came to the stage but were also laid out.
Brandi entered and laid across Cody to try to stop the assault. Anna Jay attacked Brandi and choked her out.
Lee dumped the old TNT belt in pieces on top of Cody and posed over the fallen Nightmare Family.
The announcers put over that AEW changed tonight and it now belongs to Dark Order.
Appearances by AEW World Champion Jon Moxley and MJF have been announced for AEW Dynamite tonight.
The two will face off for the AEW Championship at All Out on Saturday, September 5.
MJF has framed his upcoming title shot as a political campaign and has cut a series of promos in recent weeks portraying Moxley as an undeserving champion who ducks MJF, while MJF is the champion that the audience deserves.
Moxley has made four successful title defenses since defeating Chris Jericho to become the AEW World Champion at Revolution on February 29.
Here’s the updated lineup for Dynamite:
TNT Champion Cody vs. Mr. Brodie Lee
Women’s Tag Team Cup finals: The Nightmare Sisters (Brandi Rhodes & Allie) vs. Ivelisse & Diamante
The Elite (Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks) vs. The Dark Order (Alex Reynolds, John Silver & Alan Angels)
FTR vs. Private Party
The Lucha Bros (Pentagon Jr. & Rey Fenix), The Butcher & The Blade vs. Jurassic Express (Luchasaurus & Jungle Boy) & Natural Nightmares (Dustin Rhodes & QT Marshall)
After defeating Chris Jericho in last week’s main event, Orange Cassidy is set for a segment on AEW Dynamite.
AEW has announced that Cassidy will give his “first-ever AEW in-ring interview” on Dynamite this Saturday: THIS SATURDAY ON DYNAMITE! @orangecassidy will give his FIRST-EVER AEW in-ring interview! Watch #AEWDynamite SATURDAY NIGHT AUG 22nd on @TNTDrama at the special time of 6e/5c or immediately following the NBA playoffs.”
Last week’s Cassidy vs. Jericho main event was a rematch from Fyter Fest night two. Jericho got the win in their first matchup but lost last week after Cassidy overcame interference by Jake Hager and a low blow from Jericho. Jericho went for the Judas Effect after the low blow, but Cassidy ducked it and caught him in a mousetrap pin.
AEW is looking to take another step toward pandemic normalcy, announcing Thursday that they will begin selling tickets to their live shows starting with next Thursday’s Dynamite.
Dynamite will continue to be held at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida, at 10-15% capacity of the venue. The venue’s capacity is listed at 5500, putting that number at an estimated 550-825 range.
The August 27th kickoff to this new plan will be limited to 10% capacity and will go on sale Friday on both Ticketmaster and AEWTix.com. If things go as planned, they will expand to 15% for future shows. It’s assumed that with this move, Dynamite will be returning to weekly live programming instead of a live/taped alternating schedule.
To be in compliance with federal and state guidelines, tickets will be physically distanced and sold in “seating pods” that will available in groups of two, three, four, and six around the venue.
Fans will be required to wear face coverings that cover the nose and mouth and must distance from those not in their pod. Temperatures will be scanned and fans who are showing any COVID-19 symptoms or have had close contact with someone that has are asked to not attend. Tickets will be mobile only and any merchandise, food, and drink purchases will be done without cash.
The company has been giving away tickets to an estimated 100-150 fans through arena partners in recent weeks, but this will be the first time they have sold tickets to fans since the pandemic hit in March.
Tony Schiavone and Taz returned to commentary and were joined Veda Scott, making her Dark debut fresh off the Women’s Tag Team Cup tournament. She has been quite good on commentary, so I am glad to see her getting more opportunities before Excalibur returns.
Kip Sabian (w/ Penelope Ford) defeated Michael Nakazawa
Nakazawa did some comedy with the oiled up spin drill, which frustrated Sabian. Sabian hit a springboard kick followed by an athletic looking tope con giro. Sabian controlled most of the match, but Nakazawa kept countering with cradles. The finish came when Nakazawa pulled out his underwear, but Sabian turned it around and put it in Nakazawa’s own mouth, followed by the Deathly Hallows for the win.
Joey Janela & Sonny Kiss defeated Shawn Dean & Frank Stone
This was the first time Dean and Stone have teamed together in AEW while Janela and Kiss have quietly put together a solid 6-1 tag team record, albeit nearly all on Dark. Dean and Stone got a surprising amount of offense in this matchup, with Stone in particular looking solid.
Janela started out with Stone, who was quickly forced to tag in Dean. Both Janela and Kiss continued their offense early on. Dean and Stone took advantage when Dean, the non-legal man, hit a kick on Janela when the official wasn’t looking. They maintained their advantage with frequent tags and double-teams. Janela fought them off with a double DDT, followed by a rough looking back walk senton, and made it to Kiss for the hot tag. Kiss hit his signature handspring slap, but missed the split leg drop. Stone and Dean hit a combination Samoan drop/neckbreaker for a nearfall.
Janela cut Stone off with a superkick, and Janela hit an elbow drop followed by Kiss hitting the split leg drop for the pin.
Shawn Spears (w/ Tully Blanchard) defeated Will Hobbs
The story the announcers told was that Spears continues to cheat in his matches by putting Kevlar in his glove. After a quick shoulderblock exchange stalemate, Spears consulted Blanchard for advice. Spears offered the test of strength, but feinted into a short legdrop to put Hobbs on the mat.
Hobbs’ left leg was the target of Spears’ offense for most of the match. He attempted a comeback with a spinebuster, but Spears kicked out Hobbs’ knee and hit the Death Valley Driver for the win. Spears continued to attack his knee after the match, wrapping it across the ringpost, and flipping him off. He then loaded up his glove and knocked Hobbs out with a palm strike.
– Ricky Starks shared a prerecorded promo addressed at Darby Allin. The content wasn’t groundbreaking, but his delivery was solid and unique.
The Hybrid2 (Jack Evans & Angelico) defeated The Initiative (Peter Avalon & Brandon Cutler) (w/ Leva Bates)
Evans & Angelico haven’t won since before the pandemic, losing their return match against Dustin Rhodes and QT Marshall, while The Initiative is 0-9 as a team. Hybrid2 were the team that worked as heels in this match and despite Avalon’s grating character, The Initiative actually came across as somewhat likable. This match was the best thing yet on the show, but it broke down a bit at the end.
Evans did some comedy karate at the start before he and Cutler exchanged about a dozen cradles and nearfalls. Cutler countered out of a cazadora into a facebuster as he and Avalon hit double teams.
Avalon dropkicked Evans to the floor and teased hitting him with Bates’ book before thinking better of it. He left the book by Angelico’s side and Angelico took advantage by hitting him with it when the referee wasn’t looking. Angelico and Evans continued to beat down Avalon with power moves and lucha submissions.
Cutler got the hot tag after Bates distracted Evans. He dispatched both of the Hybrid2, hitting a springboard forearm followed by a spinning slam for two. The Initiative almost got the pin, but Angelico broke it up. Evans hit an assisted standing 450, but Cutler kicked out. Evans and Avalon fought on the floor, but Bates hit a hurricanrana on Evans.
Avalon landed a moonsault on Angelico, but Evans broke up the pin for a good nearfall. Angelico hit a buckle bomb and nailed the 630 splash for the win. I like the story they are telling as Avalon and Cutler continue to fight for their first win. Dark could use more self-contained stories like this.
Abadon defeated Red Velvet
Velvet attacked right at the bell, but Abadon fought back immediately with a headbutt. There was a scary moment when she pulled Velvet face first into the apron on an arm ringer takedown. It was elementary from there as Abadon continued to beat her opponent down, concluding with the Cemetery Drive for the win.
This was a good showcase. Abadon has a cool look and powerful offense, and Velvet wrestled like she was intimidated but not to the point where she forgot that this was a professional wrestling match she needed to try to win.
Dark Order (Colt Cabana, John Silver & Alex Reynolds) defeated D3, RYZIN and Faboo Andre
The majority of the remaining Dark Order members (excluding most notably Mr. Brodie Lee) joined their bretheren for their entrance. This was the purest squash match yet on Dark as the losing team got almost no offense.
Cabana’s character is interesting as he continues to wrestle just like he always has (World of Sport style mixed with some comedy) but as a member of the Dark Order. Silver tagged in and took care of all three of his opponents with kicks.
The jobber team occasionally attempted some semblance of a comeback, but the Dark Order would always cut them off with frequent tags. No comeback would come for D3, RYZIN, and Andre as Silver and Reynolds hit a team-based flipping DDT for the pin.
Ricky Starks defeated Lee Johnson
Taz continued to talk up Starks on commentary as AEW’s most exciting up-and-coming talent. He also couldn’t help himself from coaching Starks from the desk. Johnson was a good choice of opponent as Starks is small, but Johnson is smaller. Starks played a major heel, taunting and posing throughout the contest.
The two traded dropkicks early, but Starks cut his opponent off with a knee strike as he tried to re-enter the ring. As Starks maintained control, Johnson fought back with strikes, a clothesline, and a neckbreaker, getting a two count on a springboard dropkick.
The finish came when Johnson went to the top rope. Starks sprang up and cut him off and hit Roshambo for the quick victory. After the match, Wardlow approached Johnson with an MJF 2020 campaign button, furthering the AEW Championship match angle.
Santana & Ortiz defeated Baron Black and Tony Donati
The Inner Circle members have a middling 7-6 record this year while Black and Donati have never teamed together in AEW. The commentary team discussed Santana and Ortiz’s ongoing feud with Best Friends.
Santana and Black started off and after beating Black down, Santana and Ortiz allowed him to tag in Donati. Ortiz kept up his team’s advantage with suplexes on Donati. Ortiz hit a powerbomb into a Santana knee strike for three to end a very brief squash.
Lance Archer (w/Jake Roberts) defeated Jon Cruz & Jessy Sorensen in a 2-on-1 handicap match
There was a fun moment at the start as Sorensen (the former TNA roster member) came out alone, followed by Archer coming out having already beaten down Cruz, carrying him on his shoulder. This was death and destruction all around.
Cruz and Sorenson very briefly took Archer off his feet with kicks, but Archer hit a full nelson bomb on one and a black hole slam on the other. Archer then chokeslammed Cruz onto Sorensen while he had Sorenson in his grasp and covered Sorensen standing up, but Cruz got overconfident and broke up the pin. Archer then hit Blackout on Cruz and put both opponents in the EBD claw for the double pin.
Roberts set up for his DDT after the match, but it was just a tease.
Billy (w/Austin Gunn) defeated Alan “Five” Angels
I believe this is the first time Angels is back to being referred to as Alan Angels as previously, he had been simply “Five.” Once again, the rest of the Dark Order (sans Lee) joined Angels for his entrance. Billy teased the Dark Order at the bell as he’s about a foot taller than Angels.
Billy dominated early on, sending Angels to the floor. A delayed vertical suplex got a nearfall. In a strange moment, some women (including Vickie Guerrero) were shown ringside cheering Angels on. Angels made his comeback with a running dropkick, but Billy cut him off with a tilt-a-whirl slam. Billy went for the Fameasser, but Angels escaped with kicks. Billy fought back and hit what looked like a sleeper hold side slam for the win.
Post-match, Silver and Reynolds beat down Billy, but Austin made the save with a steel chair. I don’t really understand putting Billy over, especially versus a member of one of the company’s top stables.
Lucha Bros (Pentagon Jr & Rey Fenix) and The Butcher & The Blade defeated SCU (Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian) and Private Party (Marq Quen & Isiah Kassidy)
This was probably the best match on the show, but it was yet another example of a match that would have been exponentially better with a crowd. It’s just difficult for a team like Private Party to seem exciting when their dives get no vocal reaction.
Butcher and Daniels started us off. SCU hit some double teams, but Butcher powered out as the heels beat Kazarian down in the corner. Blade was now the legal man, but Kazarian fought back with a short-armed clothesline, followed by what looked like a botched leg sweep for two.
Kassidy was the first Private Party member in the match, but he allowed Fenix to tag in. Next, Pentagon and Quen tagged in, so a few minutes into the match, all eight competitors got into the action. Private Party continued to maintain the advantage, but Pentagon fought back with a sling blade.
The four heels rotated in and out as Kassidy received a beatdown. Notable moments included a deafening overhand chop from Pentagon and a Muta lock submission attempt from Fenix. Kassidy escaped as Fenix and Blade attempted to work together, but Fenix accidentally hit Blade with a superkick.
Quen ran wild with a flurry of offense after the hot tag, and we got the parade of big moves when Fenix broke up a pin. Quen and Fenix finished off the big sequence with a nice leg strike battle. Private Party hit stereo dives on Butcher and Blade, and Pentagon hit the Pentagon Driver on Kazarian, but it was broken up by Daniels. Butcher then pinned Daniels after the Full Death.
Final Thoughts:
At an hour and 40 minutes, this was the second-longest edition of AEW Dark yet and it felt like it. There was very little on the show that I would describe as bad, but not a whole lot was all that compelling either. Dark continues to feel like almost an entirely separate product compared to Dynamite, and without the great matches and compelling, detailed storytelling that Dynamite offers, Dark pales in comparison.
Additionally, and for whatever reason, Taz was excruciating on commentary for much of the show –– ignoring matches, lacking chemistry with Schiavone and Scott, and all around detracting from the viewing experience. I have actually really enjoyed Taz’s contributions on Dynamite, so that was disappointing.
Again, everything was solid enough on the show that I can’t recommend skipping any one thing in particular, but if you’re strapped for time, the Hybrid2 vs. Initiative match as well as the main event were the two best exhibitions this week.
The finals of the inaugural AEW Women’s Tag Team Cup are set for this week’s edition of Dynamite.
On the final installment of the August Monday night series on YouTube, The Nightmare Sisters of Brandi Rhodes and Allie advanced with a win over Big Swole and Lil’ Swole (Nicole Savoy) while Ivelisse & Diamanté defeated Tay Conti and Anna Jay to finish their side of the bracket.
Rhodes and Allie have put aside their differences to come within one win of taking the Cup, taking advantage of Britt Baker’s distraction of Big Swole to pick up the win Monday. Conversely, partners and past rivals Ivelisse & Diamanté used their experience to dispatch the relatively new pairing of Conti and Jay.
The eight team tourney has featured several promotional debuts including Conti, Savoy, Ariane Andrew and Rachael Ellering in addition to the AEW in-ring debut of Dasha.
This week’s Dynamite will air on Saturday at 6 PM Eastern due to the NBA playoffs.
Tonight is the final week of the AEW Women’s Tag Team Cup tournament with two semifinal matches: Ivelisse & Diamanté facing Tay Conti & Anna Jay while The Nightmare Sisters (Brandi Rhodes & Allie) take on Big & Lil’ Swole. The two winning teams will face off in the finals on this week’s AEW Dynamite.
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Per usual Tony Schiavone and Veda Scott are on commentary with Shaul Guerrero as ring announcer. Scott has been really solid in her role so far, having done the entire tournament.
The Nightmare Sisters (Brandi Rhodes & Allie) (w/ Dustin Rhodes & QT Marshall) defeated Big and Lil’ Swole to advance to the finals
Before the match, Brandi asked Guerrero to reiterate that she is the only woman in AEW with an action figure, which was quite heelish. The story of the match was that the Nightmare Sisters haven’t gotten along as teammates.
Lil’ Swole and Brandi started off exchanging cradles before Allie tagged in. Lil’ Swole regained control, and the Swoles made frequent tags and double team moves as Allie was isolated.
Lil’ Swole attempted a suicide dive, but Allie pulled QT into her path. QT was holding Brandi’s action figure which upset Brandi as she was worried it had broken. As Lil’ Swole recovered, Allie took advantage and the Nightmare Sisters got the heat.
At one point, Brandi attempted an awful looking superkick that didn’t even get to Lil’ Swole’s chest, but she still got a cover for two. She and Allie continued to work well as a team until Big Swole got the hot tag.
Big Swole kicked Brandi’s action figure off the apron and hit a pump kick followed by a blue thunder bomb for two. Lil’ Swole got another near fall with a fallaway slam followed by a suplex.
It looked like the Swoles were about to get the win, but they were distracted by Britt Baker screaming through a megaphone on the outside of the ring. Allie then capitalized with a Final Cut for the win. Big Swole pursued Baker after the match as the Nightmare Sisters celebrated.
This was okay. Allie and the Swoles are good, but Brandi has yet to have a truly good match as a professional.
Ivelisse & Diamanté defeated Tay Conti & Anna Jay to advance to the finals
Mr. Brodie Lee, Stu Grayson, Evil Uno, and the two undercard Dark Order tag teams came out with Jay but immediately returned to the back.
This match had a strange dynamic as both teams are heels (or at least behaved like heels), taking long counts and distracting the referee. I’d say Ivelisse and Diamanté worked better in that way, but Conti’s definitely not a babyface and Jay is associated with the Dark Order. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t very good either.
Ivelisse and Conti started off, exchanging strikes as Conti transitioned into some BJJ submission attempts. Jay and Diamanté tagged in and the former kept up her team’s offense with some kicks.
Diamanté cut Jay off and she and Ivelisse isolated her with power moves. The big heat segment came from a butterfly lock submission attempt by Ivelisse. Jay escaped and bought herself some time with a dropkick, followed by the hot tag to Conti.
Conti completely whiffed on a kneelift but followed it up by an impressive black hole slam for two. The teams had an awkward striking battle and then, Ivelisse and Diamanté hit stereo cazadora stunners. Diamanté then got the pin on Conti with an assisted Sliced Bread.
And with that, the finals are set: The Nightmare Sisters will face Ivelisse & Diamanté.
Alex Marvez interviewed Brandi and Allie. Both tried to take credit for their victory, but Brandi was the bigger person and admitted they did it together. Brandi kept putting her foot in her mouth and then scrambled to make up for it to save face with Allie.
Ivelisse and Diamanté then joined Marvez. They talked about their huge experience advantage, and said that they had to win for “their people, by any means necessary.”
Final Thoughts:
This tournament has not been impressive or even a worthwhile showcase of AEW’s women’s division. Neither match tonight was very good, and the most notable thing to come out of the tournament so far was Dasha Gonzalez’s performance last week.
If they can lay out a compelling story for Wednesday, the finals have a chance to be solid. I say that because based on what I’ve seen so far, just throwing these two teams out there to do a match is a recipe for disappointment. If AEW really wants to put over the more talented team (as well as the fresher faces in the division), Ivelisse and Diamanté should walk out as the victors.
Being The Elite Episode 217 began with another Best Friends, Orange Cassidy and Brandon Cutler confrontation. Taylor held a blunt object behind his back while Trent hid a box cutter. They wanted to do another crime.
Cutler apologized to Trent, Taylor and Cassidy for accusing them of masturbating Colt Cabana with cake before murdering him. They all parted as friends but after Cutler left, Trent said that he could not wait to kill him.
Other highlights from the episode included:
The Young Bucks went to a Wal Mart looking for their AEW action figures. They were sold out.
The Bucks spoke about their rivalry with Dark Order and how it goes back to PWG a decade ago.
Santana and Ortiz were on trial, charged with making Marko Stunt’s Tinder analytics plummet. Alex Marvez represented Stunt. Santana and Ortiz represented themselves. Dasha Gonzalez was the judge. She found Santana and Ortiz innocent.
The Bucks were in their dressing room when Christopher Daniels entered, looking for Colt Cabana. They all realized Cabana had not been seen in two weeks. After Daniels left, Matt and Nick remembered hearing Kenny Omega say that he wanted to murder Cabana. They looked at Omega’s gear and saw the sunglasses from his Cleaner character.
They showed Cutler Cam footage from Dynamite.
Daniels did a commercial for poison mortgages but realized while taping it that he didn’t understand the concept.
Matt Hardy continued to attack people backstage when he confused them with Sammy Guevara.
Matt Jackson asked Cutler to come up with something for this week’s 50-plus seconds for 50-plus. Matt said he needed something slow and plodding. Cutler suggested a Randy Orton match.. Instead, Cutler built a PC.
Alex Reynolds and John Silver met to discuss potential Dark Order recruits. They considered Jon Moxley, Tom Arnold and Pauly Shore. The Librarians entered. Peter Avalon pitched himself as a Dark Order member. Reynolds and Silver rejected him.
Mr. Brodie Lee met with Evil Uno, Stu Grayson and Ten. Lee wanted to coach Uno on how to do a better job of hitting people with stacks of paper. Uno threw paper at Tony Schiavone. Lee was not happy and left with Schiavone.
A figure was walking backstage. We saw things from his point of view. He entered the medical room. The doctor called him “Scotty” and said “That’s a lot of gold, man,” a play on Cabana’s name.
On Monday, AEW announced one of their longer lineups in Dark history, an 11-match card featuring an interesting eight-man tag match as well as the promotional debut of a former TNA and NXT wrestler.
In that aforementioned eight-man tag for Tuesday, Private Party will team up with SCU (Kazarian and Daniels) against the Lucha Bros and The Butcher and The Blade. The latter will also be in eight-man action on Wednesday’s Dynamite against Jurassic Express and the Natural Nightmares.
In other action:
The Hybrid 2 (Jack Evans and Angelico) will face The Initiative (with Leva Bates).
Alan “5” Angels of the Dark Order will face Billy, accompanied by son Austin Gunn.
Lance Archer (with Jake Roberts) wll be in a handicap match against Jon Cruz and Jessy Sorensen. Sorensen is formerly of then-TNA Wrestling with some NXT appearances as well and has been out of the game since July 2019.
Dark Order members Alex Reynolds (3), John Silver (4) and Colt Cabana will face D3, Ryzin, and Faboo Andre.
Sonny Kiss and Joey Janela will team up to face Shawn Dean and Frank Stone.
Will Hobbs returns to take on Shawn Spears (with Tully Blanchard).
Kip Sabian (with Penelope Ford) will take on Michael Nakazawa.
Abadon will face Red Velvet, still looking for her first AEW win.
Ricky Starks will face Lee Johnson
Santana and Ortiz return to Dark to take on Baron Black and Tony Donati
The impending NBA playoffs means some schedule changes are coming for AEW Dynamite in the weeks ahead.
TNT initially announced some changes for their new Wednesday night staple which AEW president Tony Khan updated Saturday night on Twitter:
The Wednesday, August 19th episode will air on Saturday, August 22nd at 6 PM Eastern, the spot once occupied by the NWA and WCW for decades. NXT TakeOver XXX is also scheduled for the 22nd as well.
The Wednesday, August 26th episode will air on Thursday, August 27th at 8 PM Eastern.
TNT also will air Countdown to All Out at 10 PM on September 2nd after that night’s Dynamite.
The Wednesday, September 16th episode will be a one hour special edition airing whenever the NBA playoff game that night is done. Then, a full two hour Dynamite is scheduled for Thursday, September 17th at 8 PM Eastern.
Following the above, Dynamite will air on Wednesdays in its normal slot.
The NBA had to go on hold for several months due to the pandemic and resumed this week with a schedule designed to seed the playoffs teams for a mid-August start. TNT and ESPN are broadcast partners for a combined $2.66 billion a year.
AEW has released three roster members: Jimmy Havoc, Bea Priestley and Sadie Gibbs, confirmed by Dave Meltzer.
As of this time, the reasons for the releases are not known.
With Havoc, the company released a statement on June 19th that they would evaluate his status in the company after he completed rehabilitation for both mental health and substance abuse challenges. The 36-year-old born James Mcahren was accused of rape, abusive behavior, and assault as part of the #SpeakingOut movement and in their previous statement, AEW said they were aware of the allegations.
The 24-year-old Priestley had eight matches in AEW over the span of a year with the last one coming in a tag match on the March 11th Dynamite.
The 28-year-old Gibbs had three matches in AEW dating back to August 31 of 2019 and none in 2020. Her last appearance was in a tag match on the October 30th Dark. Of the three, she is the only one to acknowledge the release on social media, thanking the company for the opportunity.
Those watching AEW Dynamite Wednesday likely noticed the presence of more fans in the stands than in the past few months as the company nearly doubled the amount of people they allowed in, albeit with added COVID-19 protocols.
According to a report from Pro Wrestling Sheet that was also verified by our Dave Meltzer, nearly 150 “invited spectators” were allowed into Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, FL, but were seated a good distance away from the AEW wrestlers who are at ringside, Spaced apart unless they were with a pre-determined group, the spectators were subject to temperature checks and had to wear a mask throughout the event with security doing constant checks to ensure that was happening.
Noted wrestling fan Jessi Davin was one of the people in attendance, along with her husband. She gave some of the details of the night on Twitter, saying seating was planned out in advance and that they both felt very safe with how things were handled. She also shared video of the aforementioned security checking on masks and suggesting adjustments for proper use.
It’s unclear as to the process in which the spectators were chosen, but Devlin said she got in thanks to a “non-wrestling related connection.” A Reddit user that claims to work at Daily’s Place said people were able to get tickets if you worked for the venue’s sponsors and that capacity was limited to around 100 people.
Orange Cassidy scored the biggest win of his AEW career last night with a win over Chris Jericho in the main event of Dynamite.
Cassidy overcame interference from Jake Hager to defeat Jericho with a mousetrap after ducking a Judas Effect.
Cody retained the TNT Championship with a win over Scorpio Sky. After the match, Mr. Brodie Lee appeared and challenged Cody to a TNT title match on the next episode of Dynamite on Saturday, August 22.
Kenny Omega & Hangman Page also had a successful title defense, retaining their AEW World Tag Team Championships against Jurassic Express.
The build to All Out on September 5 continued as AEW World Champion Jon Moxley confronted his challenger, MJF.
FTR Tag Team Appreciation Night came to an abrupt end when Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler attacked Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson of The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express.
For more of what you missed from last night, including a Matt Hardy promo, Hikaru Shida in action and The Young Bucks vs. Dark Order, scroll below.
Former WWE referee Mike Chioda made his debut for AEW tonight, refereeing two matches.
Choida was introduced during introductions for the TNT title match between champion Cody and challenger Scorpio Sky. Cody retained the championship in a back and forth match, pinning Sky after a second crossroads.
Later in the show, Chris Jericho met with Chioda and said that many years ago, Jericho had saved his job. He wanted him to referee his match against Orange Cassidy, saying that when he gave Chioda the signal, he would “call it down the middle”.
This later played into the finish of the main event. Jericho took out a steel bat and told Chioda to look the other way. Choida refused. Jericho ended up losing the match after Cassidy pinned him with a mouse trap pin.
Chioda had been with the WWE since 1989, working as a referee. When he was released by WWE in April, he had been with the promotion for 31 years.
