The NWA has signed two wrestlers to contracts while giving another a pay raise.
On his podcast, Robert Anthony (Cyon in NWA) detailed a conversation he had with NWA director of talent relations Pat Kenney about how he was getting a raise while also revealing that they were offering Missa Kate and Joe Alonzo their own contracts.
Anthony, who had Alonzo and Kate on as guests, said he was allowed to be in the room when both wrestlers got their offers.
Alonzo talked about the different aspects of the deal that sold him which included the ability to be a true independent contractor and work for various indies without needing to get any permission from the NWA, albeit it with some common sense parameters.
Similar to other independent contractors, no taxes are taken out of his check when he gets paid, leaving him responsible for figuring out taxes on his own.
Another aspect of the talent contracts that were revealed is that they get re-evaluated every six months which includes their pay. Anthony compared to that his previous WWE contract where he got paid the same rate no matter how high he went in the company. He preferred the NWA method that allows you to renegotiate based on your standing.
Jon Moxley was supposed to go on a six-week vacation after AEW All Out.
Robert Anthony appeared on an episode of The Tyrus and Timpf podcast recently and spoke about a fishing trip he and Moxley planned to take following the pay-per-view.
“[Moxley’s] doing good. Man, he was supposed to be on vacation, six weeks, we were going to go fishing. Now he’s back to work, he’s not too happy about it,” Anthony said.
“He’s pissed off and he’s back at work and he cut a hell of a promo on Wednesday. We’ll see where it goes, you know what I mean? It’s just a lot of negatives in the positives over there.”
Moxley and Chris Jericho were not originally scheduled for last week’s Dynamite. Following the suspensions of CM Punk, Kenny Omega, and the Young Bucks, both were added to the show. Our own Dave Meltzer addressed the original plans for Moxley in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
“Moxley had an angle planned that he sort of acknowledged on the air where he would be going on vacation to lead to a return with emphasis, but that’s out the window, as it appears he, Jericho, MJF, and Danielson will be the key stars carrying the company for now,” Meltzer wrote.
Excalibur and Taz introduced the card for the evening.
**********
SCU (Scorpio Sky & Frankie Kazarian) defeated Low Rida & Fuego Del Sol
This was a fine enhancement match.
The announcers put this over as a rehab match for SCU after their loss to Havoc and Sabian two weeks ago.
Kazarian started off with Fuego and hit a leg sweep off a misdirection spot. Sky tagged in and was briefly cut off. Fuego hit a standing Shooting Star Press for a one count. Rida hit Sky with a springboard dropkick.
Sky ducked a forearm strike and Rida and Fuego ran into each other. Kazarian got a tag and ran wild with hip tosses and a leg slice on Rida in the ropes.
Sky and Kazarian hit SCU Later on Fuego and Sky picked up the pin.
**********
The Dark Order spokesperson presented the former Alan Angels with his Dark Order mask. Angels is now known as 5.
Mr. Brodie Lee welcomed 5 to Dark Order.
**********
5 (w/ 10, Alex Reynolds, and John Silver) defeated Lee Johnson
As a match this was weak, but the point here was to establish 5.
5 started aggressively with a series of strikes. Johnson came back with a dropkick. They brawled to the stage. 5 launched Johnson off the stage into the ring post.
5 worked on the left arm. Johnson kicked out of a spinebuster slam and hit a series of clotheslines. Johnson hit a neckbreaker and a one-legged dropkick. Johnson posted 5 and hit a tope con giro. Johnson hit a Blue Thunder Bomb for a near fall.
5 came back by clotheslining Johnson’s left arm over the second rope. 5 hit a DDT on the apron.
Mr. Brodie Lee came to ringside for the finish. 5 hit Johnson with a backstabber for the pin.
**********
After the match, 10 hit a pump kick to Johnson. Reynolds and Silver laid out Johnson with a tandem DDT as Lee looked on.
**********
Santana & Ortiz defeated Musa & Brady Pierce
This was a squash. Santana and Ortiz are a great team.
Ortiz hit Musa with a headbutt and worked him over with a wristlock. They traded standing switches. Ortiz used the tiger claw and hit a lariat.
Ortiz hit a sit-out powerbomb and hit a slingshot on Musa into a knee strike from Santana. Santana hit an Asai moonsault to Pierce and Musa on the floor.
Santana and Ortiz hit Musa with a tandem neckbreaker. Santana taunted Pierce and demanded that he tag in. Santana and Ortiz hit Pierce with tandem kicks.
Pierce missed a second rope moonsault. Musa jumped in and Santana nailed him with a cannonball in the corner.
Santana and Ortiz hit the Street Sweeper and simultaneously pinned both Musa and Pierce.
**********
QT Marshall approached Dustin Rhodes and Brandi Rhodes backstage. Marshall told Dustin that they didn’t have a tag match tonight. Marshall said he was in a singles match tonight because Allie told him that Dustin is a legend and doesn’t need to wrestle every week.
Marshall said Allie was up all night making new Natural Nightmares T-shirts and hoped that Brandi and Dustin would wear them. Marshall was front and center on the shirts. Brandi was aghast.
Marshall said he’d see Brandi and Dustin ringside later.
**********
The Butcher & The Blade defeated Anthony Catena & Pineapple Pete
Taz was hilarious in this match. He said if you have a physique like Pete you should wear a singlet or tights and a sweatshirt.
Butcher and Blade doubled up on Pete and landed a series of strikes and chops in their corner. Blade hit Pete with a fisherman buster.
Catena tagged in and ate a stunner from Blade and a lariat from Butcher. Butcher hit a powerslam and made a cover but Pete made the save. Blade hit Pete with a splash in the corner.
Butcher and Blade hit Full Death on Catena and Butcher picked up the pin.
Allie entered in a half-shirt. Dustin and Brandi’s shirts were ill-fitting. Allie joined the commentary team. She ignored a question from Excalibur about what happened with her and Butcher and Blade.
Allie said she has Marshall working out three times a day.
In the ring, Marshall got tossed over the top rope to the stage. Allie ran to the ring as Clayton went to work on Marshall with strikes and a delayed vertical suplex.
Clayton hit a knee drop for a near fall. Marshall came back with a rebound high kick. Clayton hit a powerslam for a two count.
Clayton tried to expose a turnbuckle. Brandi jumped on the apron to distract him. Clayton bumped Brandi off the apron. Brandi sold her wrist. Marshall was more concerned with Allie who started screaming that she broke a fingernail.
Marshall hit a backbreaker/flatliner combo for a near fall.
The finish saw Clayton climb the ropes. Allie grabbed his ankle. Marshall then hit the QT Cutter for the pin.
**********
They teased further dissension after the match as Marshall hugged Allie and Brandi continued selling her wrist.
This storyline continues to be the worst thing in AEW by a wide margin.
**********
Christopher Daniels defeated Sonny Kiss
This was a very good match.
Daniels hit a scoop slam. Kiss answered with a springboard arm drag. Kiss hit a second arm drag and used an armbar. Daniels escaped but Kiss hit another arm drag and went back to the armbar.
Daniels again escaped and Kiss again went back to the armbar. Kiss hit a double back handspring into a slap. Daniels answered with an exploder suplex and started his comeback.
Daniels twice whipped Kiss into the buckle. Daniels hit a backdrop for a two count. Daniels used a Koji clutch. Kiss forced a rope break.
Daniels hit a series of stomps in the corner. Kiss fired up with strikes and a hurricanrana. Kiss hit a slingshot splits leg drop and a standing moonsault for a two count.
Daniels hit an STO as a prelude to the BME. Kiss pulled Daniels down into a cradle for a two count. Kiss hit an enzuigiri. They traded cradles for near falls. Kiss hit a hook kick.
The finish saw Daniels block a pump kick and hit Angel’s Wings for the pin.
**********
Marko Stunt & Luchasaurus (w/ Jungle Boy) defeated Peter Avalon & Brandon Cutler (w/ Leva Bates)
This was another good match.
Luchasaurus and Avalon started off. Avalon tried to beg off. Luchasaurus hit a ripcord chop before Avalon tagged out.
Cutler tagged in and tried a springboard attack but jumped right into a chop by Luchasaurus. Luchasaurus hit a thrust kick for a two count.
Luchasaurus hit a wheelbarrow suplex on Cutler. Stunt tagged in and hit a senton for a two count. Avalon tagged in. Bates distracted Stunt and Avalon and Cutler went to work on him.
Cutler used a torture rack on Stunt and covered for a two count. Cutler tried a press slam but Stunt turned it into a hurricanrana. Avalon tagged in and ate a tornado DDT from Stunt.
Luchasaurus got a hot tag. He hit Avalon with a thrust kick and pulled Cutler into the ring for a chop. Luchasaurus hit a back fist on Avalon and followed up with an Extinction Level Event.
Cutler and Avalon started fighting each other. Luchasaurus threw Stunt into both Avalon and Cutler. Stunt hit a splash off Luchasaurus’ shoulders for a two count.
Avalon hit Luchasaurus with a swing DDT for a two count. Avalon hit a sunset bomb from the second rope. Cutler tagged in and hit a splash. Avalon and Cutler both covered for a near fall.
Cutler hit a series of knee strikes in the corner. Avalon tagged in and used a victory roll for a near fall.
Stunt hit a Tail Whip on Avalon. Stunt and Luchasaurus hit a tandem chokeslam on Avalon.
Luchasaurus then hit a standing moonsault on Avalon for the pin.
**********
Brian Cage came out to the commentary desk for the main event. He stood behind Taz and Excalibur as they called the action.
**********
AEW World Champion Jon Moxley defeated Robert Anthony in a non-title match
They went about twelve minutes. Anthony is fundamentally sound but I would not have had him do a competitive match with the World Champion.
They traded holds. Moxley used a single-leg takedown and tied up Anthony’s left arm. Anthony escaped and tried a plancha. Moxley avoided the plancha and hit a suicide dive.
Moxley hit a pair of dragon screws. Moxley hit a shoulder capture suplex but only got a one count. Moxley used a single-leg crab but Anthony forced a rope break.
Moxley tied up Anthony’s left leg. Moxley hit an x-plex. Moxley used a figure four around the post. Anthony hit a suplex and used a Romero Special. Anthony covered for a one count.
Anthony hit chops and strikes in the corner. Moxley came back with a lariat and Anthony took a flip bump. Anthony blocked a Gotch-style piledriver and hit a Death Valley Driver for a two count.
Anthony missed a charge into the corner. Anthony blocked a Paradigm Shift. Anthony jumped off the top rope into a powerbomb for a near fall. Moxley hit a spinebuster for another near fall.
Moxley then locked on a cloverleaf and Anthony submitted.
On commentary, Taz made the point that Moxley let Anthony hang around too long and said that Cage will destroy Moxley based on this performance.
Anthony tweeted about facing Moxley: “A rematch 10 years in the making takes place this Tuesday on @AEWrestling Dark! Are you ready? @TonyKhan @JonMoxley”
This will be the second time that Moxley has wrestled on AEW Dark. He defeated Faboo Andre on the episode of the show that aired on March 31.
In his only other match for AEW, Anthony teamed with Shawn Spears in a loss to SCU on AEW Dark in March.
Moxley is defending his AEW World Championship against Brian Cage at Fyter Fest, which AEW has announced will be a two-week event as special episodes of Dynamite on Wednesday, July 1 and Wednesday, July 8. Cage became the number one contender to Moxley’s title by winning the Casino Ladder Match in his AEW debut at Double or Nothing.
Excalibur and Taz welcomed us to the show and announced the card.
**********
Jake Hager (w /Sammy Guevara) defeated Joe Alonzo
Dasha Gonzalez did the ring announcing for this show and let us know that Joe Alonzo “does everything for the views.”
Guevara did some vlogging at ringside.
This was a complete squash. Hager hit a wheelbarrow German, a uranage, then used a head-and-arm triangle for the submission win.
**********
The Natural Nightmares (Dustin Rhodes & QT Marshall w/ Brandi Rhodes) defeated Matt Sells & Jon Cruz (w/ Skyler Moore)
Sells and Cruz are an awesome jobber team. Sells looks like a cross between DDP and Shane Douglas.
Rhodes controlled the early part of the match with basic arm drag/shoulder tackle offense.
Marshall tagged in and got cut off after an illegal knee from the apron by Cruz and a forearm by Sells. Sells hit a neckbreaker for a two count. Marshall made a tag to Rhodes, who hit some signature offense.
The finish saw Marshall and Rhodes hit their unnamed tandem finisher, allowing Marshall to pin Cruz.
**********
SCU (Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian) defeated Robert “Ego” Anthony & Shawn Spears (w/ Tully Blanchard)
This was the best and most competitive match on the show. The story of the match was that Anthony was actually pretty good and Spears was to blame for the loss.
Excalibur put over Anthony’s 20 years of experience.
Anthony and Kazarian began. Kazarian used a hip toss and an armbar to control Anthony. The gave Anthony some credibility as he nearly countered out of each of Kazarian’s holds.
Daniels and Spears tagged in and things went south for the Spears and Anthony duo. Daniels hit an interfering Anthony with an STO. Kazarian hit a double stomp to Spears.
Anthony interfered from the floor and pulled Kazarian outside. Spears hit a spinebuster on Daniels and took control of the bout.
Spears did a comedy spot where he jumped the railing and chanted for himself. Anthony and Spears worked over Daniels.
Daniels ducked a clothesline and made a hot tag to Kazarian, who used a lariat on Anthony for a near fall. Kazarian hit a springboard leg drop on Anthony for a two count.
Spears tried to interfere but twice accidentally hit Anthony. Anthony hit a rolling DVD on Kazarian for a two count.
The finish saw Anthony accidentally hit Spears with a clothesline. Spears then rolled out of the ring and left Anthony on his own. Daniels and Kazarian hit the Best Meltzer Ever for the pin.
**********
Blanchard gave a thumbs down after the match and Spears hit a C4 on Anthony.
**********
Kip Sabian (w/Penelope Ford) defeated Suge D
Suge D is better known as Sugar Dunkerton.
Sabian was canoodling in the corner with Ford after the opening bell rang, allowing Suge to use a quick roll-up for a two count. Sabian took the ref and Ford hit a drive-by dropkick on the apron.
Sabian hit a hangman neckbreaker for a two count. Suge used an intricate series of counters and reversals and hit a rolling elbow for a two count.
Sabian hit a half-and-half suplex, then used a Russian leg sweep to set up the Cruciatus Clutch. Suge tapped out.
**********
Colt Cabana defeated Brandon Cutler
These two had a solid babyface match with a simple story and a splash of comedy.
Cabana outwrestled Cutler in the opening minutes of the match. Cabana got cocky, then Cutler began to answer Cabana hold for hold.
Cutler hit a suicide dive. Cabana climbed back inside and Cutler tried a springboard attack. Cabana sidestepped and Cutler crashed to the mat.
Cabana then used a bionic elbow and a Superman Pin to put away Cutler.
**********
Sonny Kiss & Joey Janela defeated Corey Hollis & Mike Reed
Janela and Kiss opened the match working over Hollis. Kiss hit a double back handspring into a slap to the face.
Hollis caught a kick from Kiss, then Reed hit Kiss with a knee strike to the face and took control of the match.
Reed hit Kiss with some forearm shots. Kiss escaped a back suplex and Janela got the hot tag.
Janela hit a high cross off the top and a jawbreaker on Reed. Hollis jumped in and ate a DVD. Kiss hit an axe kick in the corner. Janela used Kiss as a launch pad and hit a top rope elbow.
The finish saw Kiss use a split-legged leg drop off the second rope, then cover Reed for the pin.
