Tonight is the third Dynamite of AEW’s residency at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, and it’s also Bryan Danielson’s full-time commentary debut! Also other stuff!
Dynamite opens with the new full-time commentator making his entrance and sitting down at the table. This is how much Bryan Danielson loves professional wrestling. A year after he went into semi-retirement because his body wouldn’t let him do it anymore, he’s already itching to come back to a full-time television role.
Match One: AEW World Champion Hangman Page vs. Josh Alexander (non-title)
Hockey fight, Hangman gets Alexander in the corner, punches, Alexander reverses position and responds in kind, Hangman reverses position and hits chops, face wash on the top rope, Alexander with a boot, trip, ankle lock, Hangman trips him to the outside, springboard kick, suicide dive, Alexander catches him with a forearm, toss into the apron, suplex, blocked, brainbuster on the apron, misses a suicide crossbody, Hangman with a moonsault, into a tombstone, reversed into an ankle lock, Page with a boot, clotheslines Alexander into the crowd, drags him back over, rolls him into the ring, Alexander with a boot, European uppercut, face wash in the corner, chops, whip, reversed, Alexander with a boot, Hangman clotheslines him over the top rope, suicide dive, goes up top, Alexander rolls into the ring and out the other side, chops Hangman from the apron, slam, suicide crossbody, beats Page down on the floor, sets him on the chair, punches, bite, rolls him back in the ring, stomps in the corner, shoulder tackles in the adjacent corner, chop, whip, elbow, European uppercut, chops, Page reverses position, chops, Alexander with a running boot, whip to the corner, Page comes out with a pair of lariats, fallaway slam, DVD for two, Dead Eye, blocked in the ropes, Alexander dumps Hangman to the apron, Hangman with a boot, Buckshot Lariat, reversed into a trio of Germans, then a German on the apron, drags Hangman up to the entranceway, goes for another German, Hangman lands on his feet, elbow, reversed into an elbow, Hangman hits a t-bone suplex into the barricade, both men beat the count at 9, trading forearms, Alexander gets the better of it, European uppercut, Hangman with a pop-up powerbomb for two, sets Alexander up top, trading strikes on the top rope, Alexander with a fireman’s carry, Hangman with elbows, Alexander hits the fireman’s carry senton from the top for two, rolls into an ankle lock, Hangman gets the rope, Alexander breaks at 4, C4 on the apron, blocked, Hangman with a kick, Dead Eye, goes up top, moonsault to the floor, rolls Alexander into the ring, Don Callis distracts the ref, Archer and Rocky go for the attack, Hangman knocks them both away, punches Alexander, shove, Buckshot Lariat for three.
Winner: Hangman Page
Hangman grabs a mic and says the circumstances of his title reign so far have been bullshit. He says the most important word in All Elite Wrestling is wrestling, and that’s what he’s going to do. Kyle Fletcher comes out and says the Don Callis Family runs AEW, and so does he, regardless of who holds the title. He reminds Hangman of the challenge he made, Hangman says he sees himself in the things Fletcher has done to make a point, but if he wants to make a point, he can do it in the ring. Fletcher and Callis congress, then Fletcher enters the ring and asks what Hangman has to say. Hangman says Fletcher is full of potential, says he reminds him of six-years-ago-Hangman staring down Chris Jericho, but just like Hangman at that point, Fletcher isn’t ready. Fletcher says he’s tired of hearing that, he decides when his prime is, and it’s now, and it will continue as long as he wants. Hangman says, if that’s truly how Fletcher feels, he’ll give him his title shot, but only if Fletcher gives him what everyone needs from him, and that’s Fletcher doing it alone. Fletcher says it won’t make a difference, but Hangman has his word, it will be one on one.
In a clip from after Collision, MJF says he hates Briscoe so much he left home the day after his wedding just to get even, even though his wife said she’d leave him if he did.
Renee asks the Bucks what they’ll do with the prize money if they win tonight’s main event. They talk about steak and gambling, then try to find a place to sit in catering, but no one wants to sit with them, not even Brandon Cutler. Jon Moxley then comes in and says nothing has changed, they’re still the Young Bucks, and promises that the two of them can split the entire $500k, including the Death Riders’ share, if they show up to win.
Match Two: TBS Champion Mercedes Mone and Emi Sakura vs. Riho and Alex Windsor
Last week, I misspelled Riho’s name as Rhio, which wouldn’t be so major except there is actually a Rhio, she’s a pretty major one to watch on the UK Indy and international scenes. So I apologize to both of them.
Mone and Riho start off, Mone and Sakura with a beatdown, Sakura in, trading shots, Riho ends up hitting a 619, Windsor in, strikes, cover for two, Riho and Windsor tee off on both opponents, Riho with a snapmare, half crab, Mone pulls Sakura out of the ring, Windsor with a suicide dive, Sakura bonks her opponents’ heads together back in the ring, locks both of them in what’s almsot a double surfboard stretch, chop to Windsor, more chops, Windsor responds in kind, Sakura with chops, elbow, double tag, Riho with dropkicks, tijeras, reversed into Tombstone Knees for two, toss to the corner, Sakura in, chop, surfboard stretch, break, Mone in, chinlock, knees to the back, toss to the corner, foot choke, running knees, cover for two, Riho with elbows, tijeras, goes for a tab, blocked, Riho with a boot, punches Sakura when she tries to intervene, Windsor in, hockey fight, Windsor with a whip to the corner, lariat, spear, drops Mone across the top rope, Riho in, diving foot stomp to an elevated Mone, running dropkick in the corner, cover for two, Sakura in, cover for two, Windsor runs in, full brawl breaks out, Riho covers Sakura for two as Mone breaks the count, gets rid of Windsor, Windsor ends up locking Mone in a Sharpshooter in the ropes, Riho locks in the half crab on Sakura in the ring for the tapout.
Winners: Riho and Alex Windsor
Backstage, Ricochet challenges Shelton Benjamin to face him one on one with everyone else in the back.
They do a By The Numbers for FTR vs. CNC.
FTR come out and Stokely complains that nothing is fair, and everyone makes fun of him for not getting any hoes, but none of them get any hoes either. Dax tries to speak, but the crowd boo him too loudly, so he challenges anyone in the crowd to fight him. He gets in staredowns with a couple people in the crowd, then start beating down the production crew until the referee corps pulls them off.
Backstage, Renee asks Hurt Syndicate about Ricochet’s challenge. MVP starts to answer, but Shelton cuts him off and says the challenge is on.
Match Three: Ricochet vs. Shelton Benjamin
Ricochet opens with a running dropkick, another, punches, ref forces a break, Ricochet with a dropkick, suicide dive, rolls Shelton into the ring, springboard 450, Shelton tosses him to the floor, tosses him around ringside, back suplex onto the barricade, rolls him into the ring, Ricochet with a forearm, Shelton with a back suplex, German, blocked, punches Ricochet in the back, Ricochet tosses Shelton to the floor, suicide dive, rolls him into the ring, stomp, snapmare, chinlock, punch to the top of the head, chops, goes up top, misses, knee for two, punches, kick, springboard, Shelton catches him, belly to belly, German, another, punch, German, running knee, vertical suplex for two, trading shots, mutual superkick, Ricochet with an elbow, boot, blocked, Shelton to the apron, kick, goes up top, Ricochet follows for a top rope Spanish Fly for two, grabs scissors, goes for a scissors shot, blocked, Shelton with a kick, grabs the scissors, eventually snaps them, GOA run in, Kaun distracts while Toa hits a headbutt, Ricochet with a rollup for three.
Winner: Ricohet
The rest of the Hurt Syndicate run out to brawl with GOA, Shelton superkicks Ricochet, security eventually intervenes.
Hook says he appreciates that the Opps will always have his back, and now that they explained what happened, they’re cool, but it’s also time for Hook to stand on his own. He finishes with, “Or maybe not.”
Tony Schiavone asks Don Callis about Kyle Fletcher agreeing to keep him in the back. Callis says Fletcher doesn’t need anyone, and Fletcher says it’s just a matter of time until the Don Callis Family has the world title.
Match Four: Street Fight: AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm vs. Skye Blue (non-title)
Fight starts as a kendo stick duel on the floor, Toni quickly takes control, both women in the ring, Blue with kendo stick shots, choke, Storm with a snapmare, kendo stick to the gut, baking sheet shot to the back, another, Blue responds in kind, grabs a staple gun, staples Storm in both nipples and the crotch, Storm responds by stapling her in the ass, hip attack to the floor, baking sheet shots to the back, Blue with a face wrench, chop, clubs Storm in the back repeatedly with what appears to be a vinyl record, rolls her into the ring, cover for two, beats her with a VHS tape, then another, DDT onto the VCR for two, we see that the label on the VHS says “RJ City audition tape”, Blue clubs Storm with the cookie sheet, Storm with a forearm, slam onto the steel steps, climbs onto the barricade and brings Blue with her, trading shots, Blue tumbles but lands on her feet, Storm drags her back up, headbutt, trading forearms, Blue gets the better of it, clubs Storm with a fan sign, which later turns out to be a street sign in disguise, Storm trips Blue on the barricade, reveals a table full of mouse traps, eats some cheese, gives some to the announce desk, Blue clubs her from behind, Storm slams Blue’s finger in a mousetrap, drags her to the apron, trading punches, Blue with a superkick, powerbomb onto the mousetrap table, the table doesn’t break, Blue rolls Storm into the ring, cover for two, sets the chair up sideways in the corner, toss into the chair, reversed, Storm clubs Blue in the back with the chair, does it again, a third time, DDT for two, grabs an electric flyswatter, smacks Blue on the ass with it twice, then in the head, sets her up top, punches, sets a garbage can up in the middle of the ring, superplex, blocked, Blue with a superkick, powerbomb through the cans for two, Code Blue, blocked, Storm tosses the chair at her, sets a wooden board in the corner with Blue underneath it, running ass attack, Storm Zero on a chair for three.
Winner: Toni Storm
The rest of Triangle of Madness attack until Stat comes to even the odds. It doesn’t quite work until Jamie Hayter joins the fray. It goes sideways when she accidentally hits Stat, and the brawl ends with Thekla levelling Storm with a spear.
Renee asks Willow Nightingale what’s up. She says that she’s tried to stand up for what’s right, and Marina Shafir gets in the way of that. Harley Cameron runs in and tries to convince Willow to reunite with Stat through song, Willow says she loves Harley, but she’s been down this road with Stat before. She advises Harley to watch her back before Stat betrays her.
Main Event: $500k Ten Man Tag: AEW World Trios Champions The Opps and AEW World Tag Team Champions Brodido vs. The Young Bucks and Death Riders (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta)
Young Bucks come out to the original Dynamite theme and a ‘tron that’s just their ID photos and real legal names on a white background.
Nick and Bandido start, Nick trips Bandido for a cover for one twice, rollup for two, backslide for two, whip, Bandido floats over, rollup, blocked, Matt helps Nick with a rollup for the ref catches it, Bandido with a rollup for one, Bandido with a dropkick, Brody King in, cleans house on the Bucks, Bandido in, Macarena with King, aided splash, blocked with knees, Yuta in, Bandido with a backbreaker, Joe in, Yuta with forearms, Joe with kicks, heel hook, Yuta gets the rope, Joe with punches, Shibata in, toss to the corner, boot, chops, Yuta with an elbow, missile dropkick, Claudio in, European uppercut, chop, more European uppercuts, Shibata with a boot, forearms in the corner, running dropkick, underhook suplex, blocked, Claudio with a suplex, reversed into a sleeper, Mox interferes to break it up sparking a brawl, Bandido ends up hitting a frog splash for two, suplex, Yuta blocks, Bucks pull Bandido to the floor and go to beat him down, Bandido gets the better of them, Mox hits Bandido with a lariat, Yuta with stomps, knee choke, Mox in, half crab, King eventually breaks the hold, allowing Bucks Riders to gang up on Bandido, Nick in, sets Bandido up top backward, Bandido with elbows, full brawl breaks out, Nick ends up covering for two, Matt in, Superkick Party, blocked, Bandido with a double arm drag, pop-up cutter, Hobbs in, Claudio in, Hobbs cleans house, King in, resumes cleaning house until a brawl erupts, Nick ends up getting a rollup with feet on the ropes for three.
Winners: The Young Bucks and The Death Riders
The Bucks celebrate with their money, King tackles them, another full brawl breaks out, Death Riders get Hobbs alone in the ring and stomp him until Darby makes the save. A hooded man attacks Darby from behind, and it’s revealed to be Daniel Garcia. Marina Shafir grabs a chair and invites Garcia to use it. Garcia curb stomps Darby’s elbow on the chair. He stomps him a couple more times as Dynamite goes off the air.