AEW Dynamite 2/28/2024

AEW Dynamite 2/28/2024

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2024/02/aew-dynamite-2212024.html

Adam Page comes out on crutches. He said he's not apologizing to Swerve or Joe and said he will not be able to compete. Swerve Strickland then comes out. He said he didn't expect this but he targeted him. He said he suffered an unfortunate fate, but you can't escape fate or stop destiny. Swerve said his destiny is at the PPV, where he becomes AEW champ.

Samoa Joe comes out. He said two of the biggest enemies seem to be trying to hug it out. Joe calls Page "hopalong". He said they are hungry, accomplished wrestlers. He said they are hungry because he's champ and he's starving them, because he's not losing the title. Joe said he will whip both of them come Revolution no matter whether it's one or both of them.

Swerve said he went from unemployed to being here and said he went from cruiserweight to heavyweight. He said he will do whatever it takes to become champ. He said he's not a career maker or career changer. He said he might want to go back to doing commentary in a poncho again. He says he's on the verge of making history.

Page then hits Swerve with his crutch and seems be just fine. Swerve is out and Page said he will never be champ. Page says Joe won't be champ either and says he will. 

Well, that was something different. I don't know if this was supposed to turn Swerve, but it's not like he didn't have it coming. It does put over Page hating Swerve though.

We see The Young Bucks arrive earlier. Renee wants to interview them. She asks about the business meeting with Flair. They said it went great. They ask if she saw Sting yet. They said they are dying to see and thank him, since it's his last Dynamite. They said they want to conduct his exit interview and show they have baseball bats. They then invite the camera men along to see what they are going to do with Sting.

The Blackpool Combat Club (Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli) vs Eddie Kingston and FTR

Eddie and CC shoulder battle. CC euros him then Eddie 2nd rope shoulders him. Dax headlock takeovers Bryan and is put is put in a headscissors. They stand off. Dax shoulders him over then hiptosses Bryan. Bryan slams Dax then they stand off after another headlock takover > headscissors sequence. Cash hits chops and forearms on Mox then Mox does it back to him. They headbutt each other. All 6 men end up brawling and we go to PiP break. During the PiP break, Bryan flying knees Cash off the apron.

We return. Bryan holds Cash in the surfboard for a punch from Mox. Mox stops Cash from making a tag then Cash hurricanrana's him and makes it. Dax hits punches on Mox and Bryan. Dax neckbreakers CC then cradles Mox for 2. Dax 2nd rope twisting crossbodies Mox then Dax hits a stiff tiger driver. Bryan baits Eddie out of the corner. Dax gets sent into the post. Bryan stomps Eddie outside then sends him into the rails.

Bryan baseball slides Eddie. CC and Dax trade then CC lariats him. We go to PiP break and return. Dax hits punches on CC then takes a Hart attack. Dax is held down and Bryan 2nd rope diving headbutts him. CC sends Cash into the rials outside then Eddie and Bryan get in. They trade chops and Eddie exploders him. Eddie exploders CC then Mox hits a stiff lariat on CC.

Mox and Eddie hockey fight then Eddie lariats him. Bryan flying kicks Eddie then CC giant swings Eddie. Bryan dropkicks Eddie as he swings then Mox piledrivers Eddie for 2. Bryan takes a uraken from Eddie then Bryan takes a bulldog from the electric chair.

All 6 men trade shots then the BCC all tie up their opponents in chokes. The BCC then all hit corner punches then CC takes a shatter machine. Dax brainbusters Mox then takes a flying knee. Bryan backdrops Eddie. Bryan flying knees Eddie.

Bryan hits reverse curbstomps on him and Eddie passes out in the triangle.

This was cut up by PiP breaks but what we saw was good. They did some different things here with triple stereo corner punch spots and triple submissions.  It had a lot of striking in this one and was stiff as expected. 

We see clips of Jericho fighting Atlantis in CMLL in the 90's. They say Atlantis helped him out and they formed a long-term partnership. Jericho said he wants to fight Atlantis Jr. tonight.

Jericho is interviewed. He said he was thrown in the water early as CMLL wanted him to be a star. He said Atlantis was a good mentor and friend. He said he wants to teach Atlantis Jr. about the wrestling business from his end and show him things he never saw from his end. He said he will give him a lesson and show him what Jericho can do. Jericho then talks in spanish.

What they did was nice here but it would have been better if they did this a week ago so people could get hyped up and could look forward to it.

Tony Schiavone interviews Will Ospreay in the ring. Will says thanks for the reception. He said his obligations are down with NJPW. He said he lost his bags when he came here but found them. He said he is wearing a green track suit that makes him look like Kermit the Frog. He says he's All Elite. He says he beat Orange Cassidy and Kenny Omega and pinned Jericho at Wembley Stadium. He said he's been running with the Callis Family and said everything is going smoothly.

Don Callis, Takeshita and Hobbs then come down. Don says there's nothing he likes more than a Don Callis Family Reunion. Don says Will talked about all they accomplished together. Don says he doesn't want to have a match of the year but a match of the decade, and said he needs Takeshita vs Will for that. Don said this is like when Pippen and Jordan would go hard at each other during practice then win titles. He said no matter who wins in their match, the real winner is The Don Callis Family. Don asks them to shake hands and they do. Takeshita then doesn't let go, then Will doesn't let go.

Renee interviews Eddie Kingston. The Young Bucks come in and ask he has seen Sting. One of them says he was talking crap and said next time it will be a fine. They tell him he could work on his presentation more like getting a sports coat. They then keep looking for Sting.

AEW International Title - Open Challenge - Orange Cassidy vs Nick Wayne

They talk about Ole Anderson and Virgil passing away. I saw Virgil on a few shows and he randomly talked to me for a good 5-10 minutes at one of them. He didn't have to, but I thought it was very nice of him and he earned my respect from it.

Nick side headlocks him and holds on by the hair. Nick headlock takeovers him then OC headlock takeovers him. OC flying hurricanrana's him then flying euros him. OC rolls out. Nick cartwheels off the apron and sends OC into the steps. Nick 2nd rope moonsaults him outside then hits a tope con hilo near the post.

Christian gets OC crotched on the top rope then Nick knocks OC off the apron. The ref asks the crowd what happened and he ejects the Patriarchy from ringside. We go to PiP break and return. OC puts his hands in his pockets to escape an armdrag then dropkicks him. OC diving clotheslines him off the top then ddt's him.

Nick perfectplexes him for 2. They foot slap each other then OC hits stomps on him. OC hits a PK for 2. Nick germans him and ends up rolling into a beach break. Matt Taven and Mike Bennett come out. OC takes a flying knee to the back then a half-nelson suplex. Rocky Romero and Trent Beretta come out to fight Mike and Taven.

Nick pulls off the turnbuckle pad and argues with Daniel Garcia. OC orange punches Nick and wins it.

It wasn't anything special and had a dirty finishing stretch with a bunch of people coming down.

OC jumping knees OC after then runs off.

The Bang Bang Scissor Gang are interviewed. Jay says he was apprehensive at first but they have shown how well they can work together. Jay says they are near perfect. Billy says except for Max's rap, which he failed to do on Collision. Austin said him and The Acclaimed should team up. Bowens then says how about The Acclaimed and Austin. 

Kris Statlander vs Skye Blue

Skye rushes her and hits forearms. Kris forearm flurries then throws her. Kris hits corner lariats then shoulders her over. Kris is thrown down by the hair and kips up. Kris flips on her for 2. Kris back elbows her then corner handstands. Skye stops whatever she was going for and sends her out. Kris gorilla presses her outside and throws her into the front row. Skye crossbodies her off the rail.

We go to PiP break and return. Kris back elbows her off the 2nd rope then Kris hits forearms. Kris lariats her then running knees her. Kris powerslams her for 2. Skye neckbreakers her and superkicks her. Skye boots her over the apron then superkicks her. Kris high kicks her then germans her on the apron.

Skye trips Kris into the steps as Willow and Julia Hart stare down. Skye canadian destroyers her and superkicks her. Skye then cradles her for 2. Skye takes an iconoclasm then a ki krusher for 2. Stoke tries to hand Kris a chain then Julia comes in and nails Kris with a title. Skye hits a code blue and wins it.

It was garbage with them doing way too much and not selling much of it at all. Even canadian destroyers and suplexes on the apron couldn't finish these two. 

The Young Bucks find Sting's locker room in the back. Nick said Sting seemed crazy and out of his mind last week, so they should be sure. They go into the room and bats are hanging from the ceiling.

Chris Jericho vs Atlantis Jr.

Chris is wearing Lionheart era gear. Atlantis Sr. is out with Atlantis Jr. They slap each other and hockey fight. Altantis hits a nice dropkick then top rope crossbodies him. Atlantis monkey flips him and Jericho tries to untie his mask. Atlantis Sr. chokes Jericho with a towel then Jr. topes Jericho.

Jericho is catapulted into the post then Jericho hurricanrana's Atlantis into the steps. We go to PiP break and return. Atlantis chops him then is shouldered over. Jericho takes an armdrag off the top. Atlantis wheelbarrow germans him. They go up top and Atlantis takes a facebuster off the top, taking a nasty looking bump. Atlantis powerslams him.

Jericho face kicks him and misses a springboard to the outside. Atlantis tope con hilos him. Atlantis is crotched on the top rope. Jericho top rope hurricanrana's him then Atlantis puts him in la atlantida. Jericho lion tamers him and Atlantis Sr. throws in the towel.

This went long and wasn't good. Atlantis doesn't do well against foreigners as seen at World Tag League and that's what happened here. Atlantis took an ugly top rope bump on his face and had trouble lifting him in the wheelbarrow. As I said, had they went over this one weeks ago and built up to it, it would have worked better than it did. It also would have been more helpful if this was leading somewhere than a random one-off.

Jericho and Atlantis Sr. help Jr. up after. Jericho and Sr. hug then Sr raises his hand. 

The Young Bucks come out. Darby Allin nails one of them from the front row. Darby gets beaten up 2v1 then is hit with a bat. Darby is choked with a bat then takes an EVP trigger.

Ric Flair comes out as Darby gets beat down. Ric is given a bat, but he pokes one of the Bucks in the eyes and punches the other. Ric then takes a low blow and goes down.

Sting's music finally plays after Darby is beaten with bats for several minutes. The Young Bucks wait for him on the ramp and Sting then repels down to ringside via a rope. Sting blocks bat shots then hits his own. Darby tope rope coffin drops The Bucks outside then Sting hits a scorpion death drop.

This was a terrible angle. Sting watched his buddies get beaten up with bats for several minutes instead of helping them out. I don't even know why we really need to see this match now since Sting got his revenge.

Overall thoughts: I liked the trios match and nothing else. Sting watched his buddies get beaten up with baseball bats and did nothing about it for several minutes. Atlantis Jr. didn't have a good night and the women did way too much in their match. They also did some weird swerve angle here where they tricked the dirt sheet writers into thinking Page was injured when actually he wasn't.