AEW Dynamite 10/25/2023

AEW Dynamite 10/25/2023

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2023/10/aew-dynamite-10182023.html 

MJF is interviewed. He calls Adam Cole. The Kingdom and Roderick Strong walk in. Cole then hangs up. MJF asks Strong what he wants. Strong says MJF is the man behind the devil mask. Strong says he will help him with Bullet Club Gold then MJF pushes him away. MJF then says he will send Jay White a message in blood. He says he has a bullet with his name on it and says he won't miss.

We then see the devil mask person. He doesn't say anything and cuts the feed.

Dynamite Diamond Ring - MJF (c) vs Juice Robinson

MJF hurries down to ringside then takes down Juice. MJF mudhole stomps Juice. Juice is sent into the rails outside then is thrown over a table. MJF spits water in his face then running facekicks him over the rail. Juice is catapulted into the post.

Juice is bleeding and his head is banged off the steps. MJF teases curb stomping Juice. The Gunns distract MJF then MJF is pulled into the steps. MJF is ddt'd on the apron. Juie chokes MJF with his scarf while the ref is arguing with Colten Gunn. Jay White comes out and we go to PiP break.

We return and MJF ends up choking Juice with his scarf. MJF back elbows and slams Juice. Juice's head is banged off the buckles, then he takes corner punches. MJF hits a kangaroo kick and shakes the ropes. MJF takes a leg lariat. Juice eye rakes him then MJF eye pokes him. Juice spits blood in his face then powerbombs him for 2.

MJF springboard double stomps his arm then topes the Gunn's outside. MJF traps Juice in the ring skirt and eye rakes him.  Juice low blows him with the rope while he's getting in then Juice ddt's him. The Gunn's try to get in and the ref kicks the ropes. MJF gets the diamond ring and punches Juice with it. MJF then hits a heatseeker piledriver and wins it.

The match was kind of average but at least they did push that they hated each other. There was lots of shenanigans and cheating.

The Kingdom and Roderick Strong come down to help out MJF, but are lariated over the top. MJF is held up for a beating then The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn come out to make the save. The Bullet Club runs. Jay White then gets on the mic. Jay says MJF will never get his hands on the belt again and says he will pummel his face into the ground. Colten says MJF has his ring back, but not the belt. Colten then challenges MJF for the ROH Tag Titles.

MJF gets on the mic. He stupidly agrees to the ROH Tag Title match. He then says it will be The Bullet Club Gold vs MJF and 3 tag partners. MJF says Jay will then give him the belt back when he wins. Strong yells "Max" and says MJF will pick them, right? MJF tells Strong and Kingdom to roll off a cliff. Max Caster then asks if they will be picked. MJF said he never liked Caster and said he wouldn't tag with him if he had a fire on his body and teaming with Caster was the only way to get rid of it. Caster then said, "so you are saying there's a chance?". MJF then refuses to scissor and heads up the ramp.

Kenny Omega then walks up to MJF on the ramp. They stare down. Kenny says MJF seems to have a lot going on and has something he wants. Kenny said he has something MJF wants and its the AEW title. Kenny said he deserves the right to defend his streak and tells him not to be afraid to show up. MJF challenges him for Collision. They shake on it. MJF says may the best man win and says he will. Kenny then does his stupid kissing goodbye thing and says, "three days, b!tch". 

For a guy who we have been told has no friends, he suddenly seems to have friends coming out of the woodwork. That was weird as was suddenly everyone wanting to challenge MJF. I didn't like them making The Kingdom look like jobbers here. But it did put together some storylines at least. Omega/MJF is a hotshot though, no doubt about it.

Wardlow does a video. He says he was sitting at home for 4 months being depressed. He said he hated seeing MJF become champ and main event their biggest show. He said there is nothing left to take from him and says he will take everything from MJF. Wardlow not being around didn't make sense to begin with and they didn't explain it much better here. Wardlow being depressed isn't a good storyline for him.

Hook and Rob Van Dam vs Dark Order (Alex Reynolds and John Silver)

Hook slams down Alex. Hook hip throws him then RVD armdrags Alex. Alex nails RVD from behind then Silver stomps him. RVD monkey flips Silver then Hook and RVD lariat their opponents over the top. Uno gets on the apron and is nailed.

We go to PiP break and return. Silver hits crossface shots on Hook then takes an overhead suplex. RVD superkicks Silver then legdrops him over the back of the neck while he is bent over. RVD springboard back kicks Alex on the apron then hits rolling thunder on Silver. RVD hits a northern lights suplex on Alex. RVD springboard kicks Silver.

Hook hits crossface shots on Silver. Uno goes for a chair shot on RVD but takes a vandaminator. RVD then spin kicks Alex. RVD hits a top rope frogsplash on Alex then Hook puts red rum on Silver and wins it.

It was a basic but okay tag. Nothing too special about it, just basic face and heel stuff. 

We get a Toni Storm skit during PiP break. 

Tony Schiavone brings Sting and Darby Allin out. Sting thanks Tony Khan for bringing him back. Tony Schiavone says 35 years ago, Sting put pro wrestling on the map on TBS. Ric Flair's music hits and Ric Flair comes out.

Ric Flair gets on the mic. He says Sting is the nicest guy he has ever known. Ric gives Sting a chop. Christian. Luchasaurus and Nick Wayne come out. Christian says the gift for Sting seems to be gold chains and a black liver. Christian asks Darby how his arm is feeling. Christian says he wants Sting gone right now and doesn't want to wait until after Revolution next year. Christian says he wants a 6 man tag at AEW Full Gear with Christian, Luchasaurus and Nick Wayne vs Sting and two partners. Sting accepts.

Renee interviews Chris Jericho. Jericho admits his match against Hobbs was a destruction. Jericho says his ribs are still hurting. Jericho said he didn't see Hobbs coming when he fought him. Jericho said he needs to self-reflect and asks if he should step back or get stronger and more intense. Jericho said he has more friends bigger than Hobbs and says maybe it's time he gives them a call.

ROH Six-Man Tag Titles - The Young Bucks and Adam Page (c) vs The Hardy Boyz and Brother Zay

 

 

Nick shoulders over Zay. Zay is then hiptossed and slammed. Zay takes a bridging neckbreaker then a swanton in that position. Zay then takes a cannonball in the corner. Page top rope lariats Zay. Matt Hardy trades shots with a Buck then hits a side effect for 2. Zay does a nice tornillo outside onto Page and Nick. Zay and Matt Hardy then do The Bucks' pose.

We go to PiP break and return. Matt Jackson hits a double northern lights suplex on his opponents. Page springboard lariats Matt. Zay springboard crossbodies Page but is caught with a fallaway slam. Page plancha's Matt Hardy outside then death valley drivers Zay.

Zay does a silly strong off of Jeff's back and tornado ddt's Page. Nick hits superkicks on all opponents. Zay swings Nick's leg into Matt Jackson's head then Zay hits a double dropkick on The Bucks. Zay does a tope con hilo outside off the back of Jeff Hardy. Jeff hits a top rope swanton for 2.

Zay springboards but ends up taking a buckshot lariat off of it. Zay takes a BTE trigger and is pinned.

It was what you would expect with a lot of flying around. The Hardy's didn't look bad here so it was watchable.

We then cut to the tron. We see Prince Nana breaking into Adam Page's house with Swerve. Swerve said this family owes him something for taking his opportunity away and rips up refrigerator art. Swerve plays with some kids book. They then hear something. Swerve goes up to the crib and asks if hangman Jr. is going to give him his opportunities. He then leaves a Swerve shirt in the crib. Nana says they have to go.

Hold on, Adam Page leaves his baby home alone? He should have CPS called on him.

Adam Copeland is interviewed. He said his friendship with Christian is more important than anything else. Darby and Sting come in. Darby says it's kill or be killed and this is not a world where Adam and Christian are going to be friends. Sting says he had the blinders on when he was with Lex Luger and said he learned from Ric Flair. He said he can see through Christian and Adam need to before it's too late. Sting then gets up in his face and says they go way back and not to mess it up now.

AEW Women's Title - Hikaru Shida (c) vs Ruby Soho

Ruby hits chops and Shida messes up a 2nd rope twisting crossbody. Shida slams her then Ruby sto's Shida. Shida rolls her around the ring and hits bad corner punches. Shida dropkicks her off the 2nd rope. Shida is pulled off the apron and Ruby hits a weak no future kick.

We go to PiP break and return. They trade forearms and Shida punches her. Shida running forearms her for 2. Ruby throws her off the buckles and pulls off the middle turnbuckle pad. Ruby then gives Shida spray paint. The ref sees it and Shida says she didn't do it. Ruby grabs the title belt and blocks spray paint with it. The ref takes the belt, Ruby chokes Shida with something and hits a blade runner for 2. Shida blocks a no future kick and hits a spinning knee.  Shida pumping knees her and hits a falcon arrow for 2. Ruby reverses it, is sent into the exposed buckle and takes a spinning knee. Shida wins.

This was really bad. Everything before the break looked awful and the stuff after it wasn't much better. It had the usual shenanigans with Ruby and was just ugly all around.

Toni Storm then comes out with some guy in a suit. 

MJF is interviewed in the back. Samoa Joe comes in. He says MJF suffers from a lack of friendship. Joe says he will be his friend. MJF agrees then Joe says it's only if MJF gives him his rematch for the AEW Title. Joe said he doesn't have to give him his answer now, but will get it soon enough with how things are going.

Orange Cassidy and Kazuchika Okada vs The Blackpool Combat Club (Claudio Castagnoli and Bryan Danielson)

Bryan drops him with a leg kick and works the arm. OC just lays on the mat while in a wristlock. CC does nice slams on OC then Okada is tagged in. Okada elbow drops CC's back then trade forearms with him. Okada slams CC and OC does some silly top rope elbow on CC.

OC is put on the top rope and Bryan knees him off the top. We go to PiP break and return. CC is back body dropped over the top. They block each others moves and OC is pulled up into a ddt on CC.

Bryan and Okada get tagged in at the same time. Bryan hits kicks on Okada then Okada running back elbows him. Okada hits a ddt for 2 and slams him. Bryan takes a flapjack for 2. Bryan its chest kicks on Okada then is rolled up for 2. Bryan puts him in the lebell lock.

Bryan and Okada trade shots. Bryan flips over him from the buckles and they collide in mid-air. OC top rope crossbodies CC, is caught and Okada boots CC to knock him over. OC does his usual weak kicks on CC then hits better kicks. CC counters OC's ddt then is cuttered off a suplex. OC tornado ddt's CC. OC plancha's Bryan.

CC giant swings OC and sharpshooters him. Okada breaks the hold then over the back neckbreakers him on the knee. Okada top rope elbow drops CC. Okada and OC hug then take a double dropkick from the top. Okada dropkicks Bryan then rainmakers him. CC 2nd rope twisting euros Okada then pop-up euros OC to win it.

OC brought it down as usual, doing his usual comedy spots in a match that should have been heated. The whole premise of this was dumb. Bryan and Okada hadn't referenced each other in months and OC chose Okada as a partner over Hook and Best Friends for unknown reasons. Okada also isn't a big draw in the US, so he was brought in essentially to bring down ratings.

Bryan holds his face after. Book and Best Friends come down. Okada kind of stares at Bryan and maybe makes a gesture, but it wasn't that easy to make out. I don't know what they were going for, but it didn't work.

Overall thoughts: Ir was a middle of the road show. Everyone being after MJF is kind of out of nowhere and MJF suddenly having all of these friends is odd too, but at least they are trying to do something with MJF. The main and the angle after didn't work and the women's match was awful. Adam Page seemingly leaving his baby home alone was a stupid moment as well.