AEW Dynamite 12/18/2024

AEW Dynamite 12/18/2024

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2024/12/aew-dynamite-12112024.html

We see The Death Riders arrive.

Orange Cassidy and Jay White are interviewed. Jay asks where their focus is tonight. Jay says his focus is on the AEW Title and says he has to rely on people he wouldn't usually rely on like OC and Adam Page. He says Page is only good at letting himself and others down. He says he doesn't need him on the team. Adam Page walks in. Page says Mox is his tonight.

Darby Allin says it's showtime tonight vs Will Ospreay. Will says he's grateful for Darby saving him last week but says it's warfare tonight and he's ready for that. He says he will show us why he's on another level.

We see MJF walking around in the back.

AEW TBS Title - Mercedes Mone (c) vs Anna Jay

Mone slaps her and evades her. Mone rolls her up into a side headlock. Mone shoulders her over. Anna slaps her then hits forearms. Mone suplexes her three times. Mone misses a top rope splash. Anna side kicks her then side flipping neckbreakers her for 2.

Mone backcrackers her for 2. Mone meteora's her. Mone heavenly locks her. Mone 2nd rope meteora's her for 2. We go to PiP break and return. Mone hits forearms in the corner. Anna 2nd rope blockbusters her for 2. Anna spinning heel kicks her in the corner. Anna iconoclasm's her.

Anna gori bombs her for 2. Anna spinning heel kicks her on the ropes then neckbreakers her over the 2nd rope. Anna grounded sleepers her and Mone bites her way out.

Mone crossfaces her and Anna tries to get out with a pin attempt. They bridge up together and Anna drives Mone into the buckles. Mone sunset bombs her into the buckles then corner meteora's her. Mone hits a money marker and wins.

Thoughts: It was fine. There was no real story to it but they gave Anna a chance here and gave her enough to make you think she might win. I'm not sure where Anna goes from here after losing multiple title challenges in a row.

FTR talk from home. They said they told The Death Riders they had no problem with them. Cash says they agree AEW needs a change. Cash says they stopped them from poisoning a man. They said they were left for dead outside in the cold. Dax said he wondered if there was a life after wrestling. Dax says they won't be cleared until the rest of the year. Dax tells them not to sleep as they will show up at their door. Dax says they will be in the ring on January 1st and will fight The Death Riders. Dax says they aren't coming alone.

MJF comes out to talk. He insults The Washington Wizards. The crowd chants, "Wizards Suck". MJF talks about Hanukkah and says Santa's not real. We get a Santa chant. MJF says kids didn't get coal because they were bad, but because their parents were too poor.

MJF plays music. He says he's starting up a charity.  He shows a picture of a starving child and we see a photo of Adam Cole on the tron. He says if you buy the PPV, it will go towards his foundation to put Cole out of his misery.

Cole then appears on the tron. He says he met with Tony Khan. Taven and Bennett walk in and he says they will be there so MJF can't grab the Dynamite Diamond Ring early.. He says MJF is a dead man. He asks MJF is he's kicking his @ss yet, then he appears behind MJF and pounds on him.

Jamie Hayter does a promo. She says she sees Julia Hart as the coward she is. She says Hart's message was sent. She says she will drop her on her head at Fight For The Fallen and give her a big dose of Hayterade.

We get a video saying Kenny Omega is about to return and will wrestle at Wrestle Dynasty on January 5th.

Christian Cage and Nick Wayne vs Hook and Katsuyori Shibata

CC = Christian Cage, KS = Katsuyori Shibata

Nick side headlock takeovers Hook. Hook side headlock takeovers him. Nick headscissors him and they stand off after a missed kick. KS and CC lock up. KS snapmares him and CC ducks a head kick. CC boots and slaps KS. KS forearms him over.

KS hits chops. Both tag out. Nick is pulled over the top. Hook back body drops CC onto Nick outside. CC and Nick stall outside. Hook goes for red rum on Nick and CC pulls Hook's injured hand down on the top rope. We go to PiP break and return. 

Hook exploders Nick. KS gets in and corner facekicks Nick. He hits chops and corner dropkicks Nick. KS goes for the armbar on Nick. KS hits a facekick and Nick hits forearms. KS STO's him then does the same to CC. CC trips KS from the outside. Hook nails Kip Sabian outside and suplexes CC on the floor. KS counters Nick's wayne's world cutter with a sleeper. Mother Wayne gets on the apron, CC hits a killswitch on KS and Nick pins KS.

Thoughts: It was short, had a lot of shenanigans and wasn't much before the finish.

We get a video on Chris Jericho walking around NYC. He says every kind need a throne to rule and a castle. He says there is no greater vantage point than New York City. He says he's the king of New York and says he'll be d@mned if he lets anyone take his crown.

We see a video on Bandido.

Mariah May does a promo. She asks why Thunder Rosa wanted to become a wrestler. Was it to make her family proud? She says a hero is a dreamer who doesn't realize she's dreaming. She says she's no hero and spent her time looking out for herself. She said she eclipsed everyone just by being her. She agrees to the Tijuana Street Fight. She says to bring her father as she'd like to end 2 generations in one night. She asks if being a failure runs in the family. She says she wouldn't bring her father to World's End as she wouldn't want her to see what she will do.

Tony Schiavone interviews Ricochet in the ring. The Hurt Syndicate come out. Ric says they look good and says they collectively look good. He asks if they saw how he beat Komander and Brody King. He says maybe they can keep the business son lock. MVP asks if Ric has his business card still. Ric pulls it out and Bobby grabs Ric by the chin. MVP says nobody likes a kiss-@ss. Bobby then tells Ricochet to beat it. Ric then leaves. MVP tells Shelton he has business to take care of and to hurt somebody.

Thoughts: Well this was a total burial of Ricochet. He looked like a total fool here.

Continental Classic Blue League Match - Shelton Benjamin vs The Beast Mortos

SB waistlocks him. Mort back elbows his way out and takes a release overhead suplex. SB slams him. Mort flying headscissors him. Mort is hiptossed into the ropes but armdrags him off of it. Mort then twists SB's leg. Mort is stuck on the top and takes a step up knee.

We go to PiP break and return. Mort la magistral's him for 2. Mort flips out of a backdrop then powerslams SB for 2. SB swinging kicks him. Mort headbutts him then slingblade bulldogs him. MVP says if Ric wants to show them what he's capable of doing, go hurt someone. Mort twisting swantons SB for 2.

SB powerslams him. Mort headbutts him then spinning forearms him. SB superkicks him. SB hits 2 germans. SB step up knees him in the corner. SB step up knees him then does a nice suplex into a powerslam to win.

Thoughts: The finish was a little weak here. It was a shorter match. It was fine but didn't really get enough time or a chance to be anything great. I'm not sure if that should be happening in a tournament built for workrate.

Bobby Lashley beats up Mort after. MVP tells Shelton to do what we do. SB germans Mort. MVP says this is what Daniel Garcia has to look forward to on Saturday. Daniel Garcia comes out. He says there's 3 of them and 1 of him and he knows what happens if he comes down. He says he doesn't care because he thinks everyone in DC wants to see a fight. Mark Briscoe then comes out as well. They fight. Bobby lariats DG. MVP breaks his cane on Mark's back. MVP lariats Mark then SB superkicks Mark.

We get videos from The Continental Classic matches on Saturday.

Rene interviews Ricochet. He says he doesn't know what happened. He said they know what they are doing but he will worry about The Continental Classic. He says he faces Will Ospreay. He says he didn't come to AEW to fight him but came to AEW to shut the world up about him.

Swerve Strickland and Prince Nana walk in. Swerve says, "What up turd?". Swerve says he knew it as a matter of time before "the real Trevor" showed his face. He says he knew him for 14 years but he's still the same old Trevor. He says he's still a follower. He says he knows the real Swerve and he didn't win The Continental Classic last year. He says he knows it'll eat him up when he does. Swerve says he's still bald.

Thoughts: I hated all of this. Why are we using shoot names and calling Ric a turd?

RJ City interviews Toni Storm in a "Portrait of a Rock Star" segment. She pretends to meet him for the first time and says this is cool. She said she great up in Australia and loves wrestling, rock music and the grind. RJ asks about her history with AEW. He brings up her being a 3x Women's champ. Toni says it's early to think about that. She brings up people like Saraya, Mariah May and Mercedes Mone. Toni doesn't seem to know she fought them. Toni says it's not Timeless Toni Storm, it's Toni Time. She then thanks him and leaves.

Continental Classic Gold League - Will Ospreay vs Darby Allin

Darby side headlocks him. Will throws him off. Darby tries a springboard armdrag but Will flips out. Darby springboard splashes him off the bottom rope, ducks a headkick and they stand off.

Will hits chops and Darby shotgun dropkicks him. Darby sits on top and is chopped down to the floor. Will misses a plancha and takes a tope con hilo through the ropes. Darby misses a coffin drop on the apron and goes down hard to the floor. 

We go to PiP break and return. Will hits chops and Darby 2nd rope coffin drops him. Darby does an over the back stunner. Will superkicks Darby's head against the buckles. Will hits a hidden blade after flipping Darby. Darby hits a code red off a stormbreaker attempt.

They trade forearms. Will chops him while holding the wrist. Darby la magistral's him for 2. Will superkicks him and Darby hits a springboard coffin drop for 2. Darby is dropped on the top buckles and Will hits a styles clash off the apron to the floor. Will holds his knee after.

Both get in and Will hits an os cutter as Darby gets in. Darby hits a reverse ddt off a stormbreaker attempt. Darby top rope coffin drops Will on the back. Darby hits another on him and wins.

Thoughts: Neither guy really needed to lose here but that's the breaks of a round-robin tournament like this. They did too much here though it wasn't obscene. It was a high flying match as expected with some cool spots. The two matched up well together. Darby's coffin drop bump on the apron looked like it really hurt.

The Death Riders' music hits after and they come out but we cut away to break. We return and they are still out there for the main event.

Jay White, Orange Cassidy and Adam Page vs The Death Riders (Jon Moxley, Pac and Wheeler Yuta)

Yuta and OC start us off. OC throws his sunglasses at him and they trade forearms. OC dropkicks him. OC springboard corkscrew swantons outside. Mox hits OC in the throat.

OC beachbreaks Mox. Page and Yuta go at it. Page springboard lariats Pac then fallaway slams Yuta. Page stares down Shafir outside and is hit by Yuta. Page lariats Yuta and sends him into the buckles. Jay tags himself in and Page gets mad. Page then walks off to the back saying, "I'm out". Mox lariats Jay. Mox hits a piledriver on him. We go to PiP break and return.

Yuta knee drops Jay for 2 and boots his head. Jay exploders Yuta over the top to the floor. Jay chops Pac then back body drops him. Pac slingshot cutters Jay. Pac hits kicks and Jay flips him with a lariat. Jay suplexes Pac. CC distracts Jay and Pac rebound germans Jay.

Jay sleeper suplexes Mox. Mox no sells it and gets ddt'd. OC tags in and top rope diving ddt's Mox. OC hits kicks on Mox then ddt's him. Yuta germans OC. Jay suplexes Yuta and runs into Pac's boot in the corner. OC superplexes Pac. 

Mox cutters OC. Adam Page comes back in and hits shots on Mox. Page goes for a buckshot lariat but OC punches Mox first. OC stunners Yuta. Page buckshot lariats Yuta. Jay bladerunners Pac. Jay and Page argue and Mox rolls up OC as they argue to win.

Thoughts: I didn't like this. The Riders won via roll-up here when they had a 3v2 advantage for most of the match. These guys are supposed to be so tough yet were losing at times despite a one man advantage.

The faces argue after. Mox, CC and Pac surround them. The faces fight The Riders. The fight goes outside. OC superman punches Pac. Mox escapes and the fight breaks up.

Overall thoughts: I didn't like The Death Riders barely being able to beat the faces in the main when they had a one man advantage. That made them look weak. Ricochet being made to look like a wimp and a punk was another headscratcher. Will and Darby did overdo it some but I still liked the match. Mone/Anna was fine but I don't know where you go with Anna now. the Christian tag wasn't much and Shelton/Mort was just average due to not having much time. I'm also not liking the Toni Storm stuff so far and feel like it would get ripped to shreds if WWE did it. I'd give this one a 5 out of 10 as the wrestling was mostly fine but there were some bad booking decisions here. I wouldn't recommend this one.