AEW Dynamite 6/26/2024

AEW Dynamite 6/26/2024

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2024/06/wcw-halloween-havoc-1995-10291995.html

I missed the first two minutes of this.

MJF and Daniel Garcia talk in the ring. DG said he will do things nobody has done before - say nice things about MJF. He says MJF saw him as more than a background character and as a pillar of AEW. He says he told him he could challenge him for the title if he got enough wins. He said his loss to him was one of the most embarrassing moments of his life. He said it motivated him and now he's someone the people can respect. He says he's not settling for being a pillar, he wants to be the foundation AEW is built on. 

He thanks him and says he will look two-faced if he talks sh!t right now. MJF says maybe he is a little two-faced. He said he is here to shill Forbidden Door and calls a Hechicero, a guy who looks like a poorly draw cartoon character. He says he was going to ask MJF to come out here.

He thanks MJF and said no one has ever talked about the nice things he does behind the scenes because they are jealous. He says everyone thinks they deserve his spot when none are talented enough to take it. He said he gave DG his respect because he earned it. He says DG reminds him of him. He says it's not about the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.

He says he whooped him without breaking a sweat. He says he has ascended the ladder in AEW by busting his butt. He says he didn't run from the grind, he is the grind. He says maybe it's time he got one more shot at the king. He challenges him for All In at Wembley. 

Will Ospreay comes out. He says he loves that Garcia has been trying to get wins to get a title shot. Will says he should put the International Title and the World Title (that he hasn't won yet) on the line when they fight. Garcia agrees. MJF doesn't look happy and they say he was upstaged.

MJF says it's a huge opportunity and he needs to focus on that. MJF then walks off.

Thoughts: I can't believe they are trying to make Garcia a big star again. He is just not that guy. Putting him in big matches during a time when the ratings are at all-time lows is absolute insanity. I think it's really disrespectful of Will to give out shots to a title he doesn't have yet too.

Swerve Strickland Prince Nana watch this in the back. Swerve asks why Will is putting the cart before the horse. He says he doesn't get him and says he doesn't have the strength to carry the weight of two worlds on his shoulders. He says he better have his head on straight and focus tonight. He says Will has a focus problem.

Blackpol Combat Club (Claudio Castagnoli, Jon Moxley and Wheeler Yuta) vs Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi and BUSHI)

CC shoulders over Shingo. CC side headlocks him. They shoulderblock battle and CC hits euros. Shingo hiptosses him. HT kicks the ropes while Yuta is against it then flying headscissors him. HT basement dropkicks Yuta. Yuta takes a double shoulderblock.

Titan lariats Yuta in the corner then top rope crossbodies him. Titan dropkicks him then topes him. Yuta atomic drops him and step up enzugiri's him. Titan hits a strike combo on CC. CC catches him with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker off the ropes. We go to PiP break and return.

Mox throws HT out and sends him into the rails. Titan gets stopped from tagging out. Titan kicks Mox and Shingo gets in. Shingo double larias Mox and CC then does a flatliner + ddt combo on them. Shingo suplexes Yuta. Mox and Shingo trade forearms. Mox lariats him then Shingo lariats him back.

Mox bites Shingo. Shingo lariats him on the ropes then does a back elbow and lariat. HT and Yuta trade forearms. HT superkicks Yuta. Yuta release germans HT. HT death valley drivers him for 2. HT running lariats Yuta. Mox hits HT with a chair and is dq'd.

The 6 continue to fight after. Tetsuya Naito comes on the ramp and takes forever to get down. Mox runs at him and they trade forearms. They fight in the stands. Danielson watches his crew fight then finally comes out to help after several minutes.

Thoughts: The ending was dumb here with Mox getting his team DQ'd for no real reason. It was a random match and why Naito wasn't in it is unknown. 

Owen Hart Tournament 1st Round - Jay White vs Rey Fenix

All of the wrestlers friends are ejected at the start. Rey rolls him up for 2. Jay hits chops. Rey handsprings and is hit. Rey flying headscissors Jay. Rey springboard diving armdrags him then dropkicks him. Rey topes him outside.

Rey superkicks him. Jay has him on his shoulder and snapmares him onto his knee. We go to PiP break and return. Jay stands on Rey's neck. Rey superkicks him then walks the top rope into a kick. Rey top rope splashes him for 2. Rey rolls into a hurricanrana.

Jay ddt's Rey then Jay brainbusters him. Jay uranages him for 2. Rey high kicks him then Jay hits a bladerunner to win.

Thoughts: It was okay with no one doing anything too crazy here. Jay ended up winning as expected.

The Patriarchy come out after with Bullet Club in the ring. 

The Young Bucks say The Acclaimed took advantage of them in their match and say the rematch will be different. They say they will insert their own wildcard in the Owen Hart Tournament.

The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn come out. Max says they beat The Bucks and earned themselves a title shot. They said they will get their titles back.

The Elite come out. Okada says, "scissor me, b!tch".  They challenge them to a trios match at Forbidden Door. Billy says he knows a president and Hiroshi Tanahashi does a taped promo. He says he will come to Forbidden Door and fight The Elite and his old friend Okada. He says "Scissor Ace" is coming.

Orange Cassidy, Mark Briscoe and Kyle O'Reilly are interviewed. He says The Conglomeration will be there kicking butt and taking names. He says he needs the TNT title to add to his collection. Kyle talks in a goofy accent about Zack Sabre Jr. Mark says Zack is nothing but fish and chips and says he's soft.

Mariah May, Toni Storm and Mina Shirakawa vs Saraya, Anna Jay and Harley Cameron

Anna backs up Mina on the ropes and kicks her. Mina kicks her in the back then kicks her off the ropes. Mina tags in May and Toni is mad. Anna takes a sandwich basement dropkick and May and Mina shake their chests around. Harley hits elbows on May then May spinning side slams her. Mina is sent into the ropes and Toni is pulled off the apron.

We go to PiP break and return. Harley hits shots on May then they both facebuster each other in mid-air. Toni germans Saraya and does a hip attack but only hits the buckles. Mina and Toni argue. Harley backcrackers Mina for 2.

Anna flatliners May then Toni thesz presses her and hits punches. Mina urakens Saraya and Harley. Mina lifitng reverse ddt's Harley and wins.

Thoughts: Harley has some new awful tattoo on the back of the her leg. It was fine for what it was as a short trios match. This isn't a real good start for the new Anna/Saraya/Harley trio though as I think this is their first match together.

Mina and Toni argue after. May gives them both champagne and tells them to toast. Toni and May dance and Mina hits May in the head with a champagne bottle when Toni moves. Toni and Mina then are separated.

We get a video for Mone vs Vaquer. SV says her arrogance is offensive and says her belt is not going anywhere.

Mercedes Mone does a promo. She asks where Vaquer is. She says there's a price to pay when you mess with Mone. Mone says she will be at ringside for her Collision match and says 2 Belts Mone changes everything.

The Learning Tree come out. Bryan Keith is in an arm sling and Bill blames Shibata for it. Bill says Bryan can't be in the 6-man now. Bill says when one door closes, another one, perhaps a forbidden door, opens. Jericho says he's here for the young guys to help their careers, referencing a Cody Rhodes tweet from earlier today. He says it's not fair Joe and Hook hurt the bad apple Bryan Keith. Jericho calls Samoa Joe, Samoan Joke. Jericho says he has a partner from Japan - Minoru Suzuki. Suzuki does a taped video and he says he doesn't want to team with him, he wants him 1v1.  He says he wants nothing to do with The Learning Tree and tells him to put his FTW Title on the line with him.

Bryan Keith gets mad at Suzuki calling Jericho a chicken. Samoa Joe, Hook and Katsuyori Shibata come out. Joe says Jericho has struck out again and says The Learning Tree doesn't enough have enough branches. Shibata says Jericho sucks via translator. Jericho slaps Joe and all 6 end up fighting.

Kyle O'Reilly vs Zack Sabre Jr.

Gabe Kidd and Undisputed Kingdom are watching in the seats. Zack takes him down with a waistlock. Zack takes him down. KOR blocks a sunset fli pand goes for an armbar. Zack grabs him by the ear and takes him down with headscissors.

KOR kicks Zack in the back. They snapmare each other and KOR gets on his back with a sleeper. Zack twists his neck with his feet.

We go to PiP break and return. Zack euros the arm and and does an octopus. KOR ankle locks him. KOR drops him with strikes and legsweeps him. Zack hits kicks to the arm and takes a knee to the body. Zack cradles him for 2 then KOR falcon arrows him into an armbar.

KOR ankle locks him then Zack goes for an armbar. KOR backdrops Zack. They high kick each other at the same time and Zack runs into a knee to the body. They slap each other. Zack triangles him then armbars him and taps him out.

Thoughts: It was a decent submission based match as expected. There lots of submissions and strikes here and they match up well. I'm glad Zack got the win as it would have looked bad if he didn't.

Orange Cassidy checks on KOR after. Undisputed Kingdom then check on KOR and Zack grabs OC. Robbie Eagles and Shane Haste then back up Zack. Tomohiro Ishii then comes out and stands with OC. 

Swerve Strickland and Will Ospreay vs The Gates of Agony

The heels rush their opponents. Swerve is sent into the rails. Kaun does a monkey flip variation on Kaun then springboard forearms him. Kaun is popped up into a knee and takes a flatliner from Swerve. Will standing moonsaults Kaun for 2.

Toa lariats both Swerve and Will when they argue. Swerve takes a double backdrop for 2. We go to PiP break and return. Swerve forearms Toa then Swerve is spinebusterd. Kaun dropkicks Toa on accident then Swerve brainbusters him.

Will hits forearms on Kaun. Will hits a handspring double corkscrew kick and a standing ssp on Kaun. Kaun jackhammers Will off the top. Swerve headbutts Toa then M. Bison stomps him on the floor. Will standing spanish flies Toa for 2.

Will sperkicks Swerve on accident. Kaun dropkicks Will and Toa pounces Will for 2. Swerve pump kicks Kaun when Will ducks. Toa blocks a poisonrana then is hit with one with help from Swerve. Will os cutters Toa for 2. Will hidden blades Toa and wins it.

Swerve attacks Will after and drops him with a house call kick.

Thoughts: I never liked the trope of feuding partners being able to takedown established teams. It makes the established team looks bad. It was an okay tag match with them moving well and doing a fast paced, action packed match.

Overall thoughts: This was pretty much all wrestling here. As usual with Forbidden Door, some of the matches here had little to no storylines or rationale for them. I wasn't that interested in this show and found it to be a hard one to sit through.