Tonight’s Dynamite is going to be a hard one. The day after wrestling Andrade for the AEW National Championship at All Out, Benjamin Satterley, better known to the world as PAC and before that Neville, passed away. What would normally be a post-PPV show is now a tribute show, and what would normally be an afterglow is now a time of mourning and confusion. But in his honour, professional wrestling. The man PAC faced in the main event of the fourth-ever Dynamite, Jon Moxley, will defend the Continental Championship against the man PAC faced countless times, including the main event of the first AEW show I ever saw live, Orange Cassidy. The Elite will take on the Don Callis Family. All of us will try to take on our grief and build something out of it that he would be proud of. For a couple decades, he was a bastard for our entertainment. Now we remember the man behind the skullduggery and breathtaking feats.
Dynamite opens with Excalibur fighting tears to memorialize PAC. Tony Schiavone takes it over in the ring and delivers his own tribute, highlighting how PAC was the nicest person you could ever meet once the cameras were off him, before introducing a clip from just after All Out, it focuses on Jon Moxley, including an oddly prophetic line about how loss can take many forms, whether it’s losing a match or losing a person, but it’s how you respond that matters. He says eulogies take the form of “This is what this guy did” or “This is what this guy was”. PAC and the rest of the Death Riders appear only at the end and don’t say a word, but it marks PAC’s last time on camera.
Schiavone then holds a ten-bell salute, and there aren’t many dry eyes on the stage. An empty chair sits in the stands where PAC would normally be, as the Death Riders make their way to the ring.
Match One: AEW Continental Championship: Jon Moxley (c) vs. Orange Cassidy
Both men struggling to hold back tears during their entrances. As is the referee Bryce Remsburg. For Orange Cassidy, PAC was the man who helped him show the world that he was a serious wrestler.
This is also a match between the men who are #1 and #2 for all-time wins in AEW.
Lockup, Mox with a hammerlock, rope break, lockup, Mox with an arm wrench, OC reverses into an arm drag, Mox with a side headlock, reversed in kind, Mox goes for a whip, reversed into an arm drag, another, trading rollups for two, trading trips for one, test of strength, Mox gets Cassidy down for a series of one-counts, Cassidy to his feet, gets Mox down, Mox with a sleeper, quick rope break, Cassidy with a side headlock, tackle, Mox with an elbow, toss to the floor, toss into the announce table, punches on the floor, knee, back in the ring, Cassidy beats the count at 9, Mox with chops, chinlock, Cassidy gets a foot on the rope, so Mox hooks it, delayed piledriver for two, ten-punch, Cassidy tosses Mox’s head into the turnbuckle repeatedly, Mox dropkicks him to the floor, Cassidy then suckers Mox into a chase, Mox ultimately rolls him into the ring, blocks him from rolling out the other side of the ring, Cassidy makes like he’s going to roll to the other side of the ring, but catches Mox with a suicide dive when Moxley goes to meet him, Cassidy follows up with a top rope diving DDT for two, goes up top, Mox rolls out of the way, Cassidy goes for Orange Punch, reversed into Paradigm Shift, reversed into an Orange Punch, Mox hits a cutter on the way down, trading elbows, Mox with facetious kicks, Cassidy puts his hands in his pockets, Mox responds by making like he’s going to put his hands in his pockets, instead flips Mox off, Cassidy with a dropkick, Orange Punch, another Orange Punch, rollup for two, German, reversed into a suplex, reversed into Stundog Millionaire, Mox with a sleeper, Cassidy reverses into a cricifix for two, Beach Break, blocked, hits a PK instead, goes for an Orange Punch, Mox with a lariat in the corner, running lariat for two, Brutalizer, Cassidy reverses into a rollup for two, arm drag, Brutalizer, blocked, Mox with a Curb Stomp, Death Rider for three.
Winner and STILL Continental Champion: Orange Cassidy
Bryan Danielson comes out after the bell. He and Moxley have a staredown, and then embrace.
In video, Hangman talks about meeting PAC his first day on the job, and how kind he was. He says he’s happy that he got to tell him how much he meant, and that PAC loved wrestling almost as much as he loved wrestlers.
Match Two: The Elite vs. Don Callis Family (Kevin Knight, Kyle Fletcher and RPG Vice)
DCF attack at the bell, Bucks tee off on Fletcher, Knight in, Bucks tee off on him too, Trent in, Bucks tee off on him too, Elite kind of just generally tee off on their opponents, DCF eventually turn the tables, Fletcher covers Matt for two, Rocky in, bow and arrow hold, Matt fights his way out of the corner, Rocky with a punch, whip, knocks Hangman and Kenny off the apron, clothesline, Matt reverses a second one into a Northern Lights trio, the last one with Trent as well, Nick in, cleans house, ProtoKevin beat him down in the corner, he escapes, Hangman in, cleans house, covers Knight for two, Kenny in, cleans house, devolves into a brawl, One Winged Angel to Trent for three.
Winners: The Elite
Cash Wheeler talks about how positive and caring PAC was. Jay White talks about PAC’s influence on the style of his generation, and how much everyone misses him.
Renee reads a statement from PAC’s family. They say the support from wrestling fans worldwide has helped them get through this, and they’re happy that so many of the tributes talk about who he was as a person. They thank AEW for helping them navigate this.
Swerve and the New Level hit the ring, Austin Creed is struggling to keep it together, understandably. They lay the Trios Championships in the middle of the ring with a PAC towel over them, as Excalibur points out that PAC held the record for longest cumulative time as Trios Champion.
Ricochet says you never know when you won’t have any more time with someone, and talks about rooming with him in Dragon Gate. He also describes PAC as a genuine person who no one has a bad word to say about.
Match Three: Ricochet vs. AEW Men’s World Champion Will Ospreay (Non-Title)
They embrace before the bell, Ricochet with a snapmare, side headlock, Ospreay with a shoulder tackle, jockeying, Ricochet with chops, Ospreay with a boot, hurricanrana, suicide dive, trading kicks, Ricochet tosses Ospreay to the floor, suicide dive, tosses Ospreay into the apron a couple times, trading chops, trading chops on the floor, Ricochet tosses Ospreay into the barricade, then into the steps, misses a 450, Ospreay tosses Ricochet into the steps, rolls him into the ring, punches, springboard forearm, trading chops, Ospreay with a Stundog Millionaire, springboard DDT for two, trading hurricanranas, trading forearms, Ospreay hits a Blue Thunder Bomb for two, Hidden Blade, reversed into a Backslide Driver, Liger Bomb for two, Spirit Gun, reversed into a Styles Clash for two, Hidden Blade, goes up top, Black Arrow for three.
Winner: Will Ospreay
Ospreay embraces his United Empire teammates, then Ricochet.
Back in video, Will Ospreay talks about doing backyard wrestling, and how people compared him to PAC. He talks about meeting PAC and finding out how great he was, and says he’ll miss the guidance.
Match Four: TBS and CMLL Women’s World Champion Persephone, Britt Baker and AEW Women’s World Champion Mercedes Mone vs. CMLL Mexican Women’s Champion Thunder Rosa, Hyan and Marina Shafir
Persephone and Hyan start off, jockeying, Hyan with a boot, Rosa in, double team whip, clothesline, double team strikes for two, Persephone with a dropkick for one, Baker in, trip, forearms, Persephone in, Razor’s Edge, blocked by Hyan, double team superkick, Shafir in, cleans house, Baker and Rosa in, Baker with a chinkock, Mone in, knocks Rosa around, Meteora for two, Persephone in, whip, stomp, Mone in, foot choke, neckbreaker, Shafir in, cleans house, Mother’s Milk, brawl erupts, Baker becomes legal in the process, Shafir reverses Lockjaw into a Judo takedown, Brutalizer for the tapout.
Winners: Marina Shafir, Thunder Rosa and Hyan
Swerve talks about how much he’ll miss PAC. Darby says PAC was in wrestling because he loved it. He talks about how much fun they had wrestling on a golf course.
Main Event: Don Callis Family (Wardlow, Mark Davis, Jake Doyle, Josh Alexander and Lance Archer) vs. Death Riders (Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, Gabe Kidd, Daniel Garcia and Bryan Danielson)
Holy shit, two big returns in this match! I genuinely did not think we’d ever see Bryan Danielson wrestle again.
Match starts as a brawl, Claudio and Wardlow start off officially, as the brawl very much continues on the floor, Yuta and Doyle become legal, I think? Garcia and Archer become legal, Archer with a beatdown in the corner, misses an avalanche, Kidd in, double team toss to the corner, headbutt, punch, Archer with a punch, knee, Alexander in, chops, shoulder tackles in the corner, snapmare, chinlock, Kidd with a jaw breaker, Claudio in, suplex, blocked, avalanche suplex onto the top rope, Danielson with a knee drop from the top rope, Yuta in, Giant Swing/dropkick combo for two as the DCF break it up, Wardlow in, F5, Davis in, pair of sentons, chops, stomps, Archer in, cleans house, Yuta fights his way out of the corner, Danielson in, Alexander in, Danielson cleans house, Alexander gets an ankle lock on, reversed into LaBell Lock, Doyle breaks it up, punch, sparks a brawl, Marina Shafir gets involved at one point, Garcia hits a running knee for three.
Winners: Death Riders
The Death Riders celebrate before Dynamite closes on a video tribute to PAC.