AEW Dynamite 5-27-20 - Tyson LIVE

It's been a bit since I've covered Dynamite live, but thanks to work not being exhausting like it was over the weekend, I should be able to get through this with ease. Double or Nothing recap showcases Cage, Cody, Shida, Brodie vs. Mox, and the Stadium Stampede - making it seem like a massive show. Jericho is backstage and cuts a wacky SMW promo about needing to recoup the costs of their Stadium Stampede Champions shirts - but they wound up with a whole truckload of shirts. Matt cuts a promo with the Elite and Page and Omega leave and then Matt says that he can turn into a different version for them and he goes from Broken to 2008 Tights gear and he has his own tron and theme for each era.

Bucks/Hardy against Private Party and Janela. Love JR shouting out Wilbur Snyder for the abdominal stretch. Joey ducks a superkick and Blade eats it. Matt attacks them, so there's their next program. Ross gets in a dig at WWE for the plexiglass as AEW is using the open air setup to build up new feuds. Matt gets a deathdrop/DDT for Private Party AND MOONSAULTS ONTO THE PILE FOR 2. Kassidy with an outside-in...something that somehow gets 2. Matt looked to do a Side Effect off a DDT attempt from Kassidy, but yeah that wasn't smooth. Super bionic elbow into the bang for your buck ends it. Super-fun match. Kassidy and Hardy help Marq Quen out before Butcher and Blade attack the Bucks.

FTR arrives and HELPS THE BUCKS! Bucks superkick Butcher and Blade before the Shatter Machine hits! FTR leaves and we get some great character work just by having them not play their hand right away. Mox comes out and he goes to the HBO Max announce table to call Cage's match since he'll be facing him at Fyter Fest. Cage uppercuts Lee Johnson out of his boots and Biels him around. Corner Joe kick and a German hit hard, powerbomb into a buckle bomb and the drill claw ends it. THIS IS HOW YOU GET A GUY OVER! Taz cuts a great ECW promo and says that Cage will tear Mox's heart out "beat him if you can - survive if he lets you!".

Britt's out in her wheelchair AND REBEL is here with her and a white board. She just owns the screen every second and becomes Jericho from 1998 when he was doing his conspiracy theory deal. She blames everyone else and says she'll be back at All Out - so she's not out for as long as feared and can get better and better with skits like this. Jericho and the goons cut a promo before Orange walks through and pisses off Jericho.

Christi Jaynes is mid-ring to face Shida while JR puts Jaynes over as her mother earned a doctorite while raising five kids total. They have a nice face off with a tie-up before Jaynes heels up and eats a variety of running knees. Falcon arrow ends it for Shida. Fun stuff. Ross should maybe not use "she goes down pretty good, too!". Oh good - let's do picture and picture WITH THE AD AUDIO PLAYING instead of the dialogue for the characters on the core show. Brilliant move. So Hangman and Omega did...something, but I'll have to see the Fite rip to know what they said.

They need to put...something in this TNT logo in the belt. ROH had a sawblade-esque design in it for the World title and that would help this a lot. Cody puts Tony Khan over because of course he does. He says he wasn't even the third guy called for AEW. He says he's the first champion of America's greatest network. He says that he paid his dues on TV and grew up on TV. Dustin got all of Dusty, while he's got a mean old Mom with a broken ankle. Cody talks about this being the COVID-19 era and thanks the fans for giving AEW a shot and he wants to give them the best. Cody says he'll defend the TNT Title every week. Hopefully this doesn't end up like Devon's TV Title run.

Havoc and Sabian face off with SCU for a tag title shot. Ex talks about Havoc being great at British catch wrestling, but loving deathmatch wrestling more. Havoc does some stuff for a bit. 205 LIVE CHINLOCK AFTER A BREAK! Rolling DVD by Havoc into a super double stomp by Sabian gets 2. Kaz launches Havoc into the ring for a cutter and gets 2 - great spot. Ford is the difference maker and allows her team to win it! Didn't see that coming - but it gets another team over.

MJF says he's the best guy in the company and didn't have to come from WWE to do it - but he hasn't gotten a shot here. So if Cody has an open challenge every week, what's the point of a top contender other than to have rankings? MJF is a dickhead to Wardlow, so now they're slowly teasing issues there. GREAT!

Billy with no last name is in the battle royal and Orange gets madballed by PNP. It's 2020 and Dr. Luther is on TNT. Not for long though - Luchasaurus tail whips him and chokeslams him on the apron and to the floor. JR calls Sonny Kiss "she". Cutler and Avalon get crotched and fight on the top rope. Wardlow tosses Marko out before WARDLOW AND LUCHASAURUS BATTLE IT OUT! Wardlow and MJF take out Billy and MJF tells Billy to suck it. MJF accidentally clocks Wardlow with the ring and then MJF is taken out by OC and both Jack and OC take out Wardlow! OC and Jack battle it out for skin the cat spots, BUT JUNGLE JACK WINS IT with a running rana! Cody vs. Jack is up next week.

Stadium Stampede recap with MNF-style music. That was a Stadium Stampede recap on both cocaine and speed. Wow. Giant football-style intro for the Inner Circle here with a band and cheerleaders. The ringposts are now HBO Max purple too. Wow. VICKIE IS OUT AS AN INNER CIRCLE CHEERLEADER! Vickie is so great and Sammy is a perfect stooge. He's basically a comedy act in this and it works for him. Jericho bums off the loser shirts for the crowd - tremendous!

Sammy gets Jericho a King of Dad Jokes participation trophy and Santana gets Hager some Timbs - the discount ones. Jericho gets Sammy a pimped out scooter. Hager HAS A POEM. The IC is the best of sex of violence and they're all the bestla and he'll run the Elite over with his Tesla. Jericho says he wants Tyson because he hasn't forgotten what Tyson did to him a decade ago on Raw. I like that AEW does more to honor Raw from a decade ago more than WWE does. Sammy gets him bubbly and a cheese platter BUT IT'S GONE!

Tyson and his posse arrive and Jericho shoves Tyson and Vitor Belfort, who of course takes his shirt off. The ring fills up ala Tyson vs. Austin and the locker room empties out to break them up. AEW has created the first chaotic-looking scene in the COVID era. Awesome.

AEW Double or Nothing 2020

Taz and Excalibur hype up the card and they throw to Tony and Jake as Lance beats up tires with a hammer. Then he destroys some walls and random shit in a run down shack they're in. Private Party's out as the framerate is just all over the place. They'll face the Best Friends to determine the top contenders to the tag titles. Silly String gets botched a bit. This is why Cornette rants about guys being able to do flips, but not the fundamentals. Chuckie tosses Kassidy into Quen. THE HUG!

Wacky double team basement SSP hits. Private Party lands the G9 - Cryme Tyme's finish, and they've got SG armbands too. Quen gets an SSP, but both eat hard shots on the floor. Trent gets a sunset flip for 2. Strong Zero hits and TBF win it! THANK GOD! Arn manages to put Lance over huge while burying Jake's planning involving Archer breaking a toilet with a hammer "Toilets don't hit back - Cody does!". Mox puts Brodie over as top-shelf all over the world - and he does respect the guy, but he's disappointed in him.

A weird WWE-ish video with everyone, face and heel saying the same lines about heroes in this pandemic. Ladder battle royal starts off with all-red ladders - nice touch. OC doesn't want to put forth any effort to win - so Colt tosses him out. Colt goes up but gets tossed down and the ladder clasps on his hands/ Taz brings out Brian Cage, who lands an F-5,000 on Darby. A prop chip bridge is made to trap Cage. Joey hits a running DVD to OC off the apron onto the chip bridge! Ripcord elbow and sole butt by Cage to Luchasaurus. Cage flips out of a chokeslam and hits a V trigger. Cage wins it. Dude massacred Darby with a ladder toss onto another a ladder.

AEW Dynamite 5-13-20 - Jericho vs. Pineapple Pete

Sammy getting run over by the golf cart is now in the Dynamite open! Roberts and Archer come out and Jake says he's been ordered to issue an apology - and as long as she kisses his ass, he'll apologize. Jake says women are good for cleaning, changing babies and occasionally, keeping me warm. Cody comes into the venue with the American Nightmare F150. Cody and Lance brawl amid a giant "Cody!" chant. Big tag team division video package airs - showcasing every major team and hyping up the rise of the Best Friends with the Bucks being gone.

Jurassic Express is out to face the Best Friends. This whole venue looks perfect from every angle. It's amazing how much bigger-league AEW feels than anyone else doing empty arena wrestling thanks to this venue being used. Jungle Boy goes for an Old School and Trent Saito suplexes him out of that. Best Friends go for a tower of doom assist superplex, but Jack fights off and missile dropkicks Chuckie down. TOPE INTERRUPTUS! Trent lands the busaiku knee and a tornado DDT on Luchasaurus. Fenix jumping kicks OC and the Awful Waffle takes out Jungle Boy. This ruled!

"I gotta do some Google searches on this Andromeda galaxy, is it like Arkansas far away?" - JR is tremendous. Ford vs. Britt vs. Kris vs. Shida is up. Kris goes for a boop, but Ford ain't about that life and kicks her. Britt goes a surfboard curb stomp on Shida and goes for the tooth breaker, but Kriss hoists her up and NOT EVEN A BOOP CAN WIN KRIS OVER. Britt uh hits a slingblade. GRECO ROMAN NOSTRIL LOCK leads to Kris eating a DDT. Kris gets a double slam, but loses Ford on the way down, but catches her and slams her on the pile before Shida hits a running knee.

Matrix stunner by Ford to Shida. Twist and shout by Britt. I love Ford and Sabian just kissing after Shida avoids a double team. Poison rana-ish thing gets botched by Ford and Kris. Britt locks Kris in Lockjaw (with a glove) and Shida KOs Ford with the basement knee to win. Suge D hypes himself up and says that Jericho doesn't respect him and calls him Pineapple Pete. He says that he doesn't throw shapes like Jericho with the Inner Circle, he throws hands!

Nyla vs. Shida is made for DON. PNP is out and they jump Kenny as he comes out. Damascus is out and we get random giant pyro. Matt bites Santana and Tony says that Matt has many personalities. Ross talks about meeting Matt when he and Jeff were teens making gear on their mother's sewing machine. Omega and Ortiz have amazing chemistry. Omega eats a Boston crab/camel clutch combo. THUMB POKE OF DOOM according to JR from Ortiz to Omega. Man is he having a blast out there. Matt runs wild on Ortiz, but gets tossed out and eats a tope - kinda rough landing for the tailbone on the apron. Twist of Fate on Santana, but Ortiz THE CERTIFIED GENIUS interrupts.

Sammy's out with a chair and eats a Twisto AND FLIP BUMPS FOR IT IN A NECK BRACE! Chris Candido is in heaven smiling at that one. Matt takes out Ortiz and the faces win. Omega and Matt aren't as athletic a team as Omega and Page, but they're better contrasts and I would put Matt in Page's spot as a surrogate champion to keep the division hot. We get some more Taz advice with Darby telling him he lost to something basic - he can help him. Darby corrects him and says that he knew what Cody did - he was 3rd in the state. Nice slow build for this. I love everything this Taz/Darby stuff. It's in theory a bit odd since from what we knew before, Taz and Darby have NOTHING IN COMMON. There are no more dissimilar people on Earth. But now we know that Darby has a wrestling past and Taz, to his credit, admits that he should've known that. Now Taz knows he has to dig deeper on Darby and if he really wants to help him, he has to prove his worth to Darby. Nice, slow build to all this. They're letting it simmer, it's not a huge angle - they're not rushing it like TNA where BOOM TAZ IS HERE AND HE'S WITH JOE, they're letting it breathe.

MJF is out to destroy Lee Johnson, who Wardlow destroyed before. Rey Fenix faces O.C. next week. Ross says that Lee's only been around 2 years. LEE BUMPS FOR A SLAP! This dude rules! Shoulder breaker and the Fujiwara armbar ends it. Spears claps some wood together for MJF before he buries the faces for booing him. MJF says he feels a bit stiff and asks Lee, WHO IS STILL DOWN if it's true. Now MJF wants to face Marko Stunt and he'll face him...I guess next week.

Suge D is out with a Pineapple Pete tron. Jericho wears a Pete shirt out and wears it in the ring to do several things. Get the shirt over. Cover the body up a bit, and help Suge get some paydays off the shirt. Pete lands a few shots but Jericho lands the Judas Effect for a quick ending. Jericho cuts a promo about how the Elite isn't even a thing anymore. Jericho wants Sammy so say that they're honorable in Spanish - LE HONORABLE! He wants to give the Elite a chance to get their shit together and they want a Stadium Stampede match with the Elite!

Vanguard 1 flies in and returns the shirt. JERICHO CUTS A PROMO ON THE DRONE! Jericho says he had warrants out in seven states for his arrest and the drone accepts the challenge. ARN AND JAKE PROMO NEXT WEEK. Oh Hell yes! Daniels is out and Brodie is wearing the belt and is announced as the self-proclaimed champion by force. Great stuff. The graphic notes that Brodie has won all 4 of his matches in 10 minutes. Ross brings up that everyone in the building has tested nevative.

If Daniels is going to wear a body-covering top, do it like Brodie and make it look like part of your gear instead of just a plain black top. Daniels gets the Arabian moonsault! Now that's great little storytelling because that's a move the Dark Order used before to get him to try and join them. Eddie hilo and a superkick hits for Brodie. Gemenguri by CD leads to a flying rana. CD chairshots Brodie in the head, and he covers it. Flatliner into the Koji clutch leads to a Dark Order beating before Colt comes down to save CD. None of the principles are touched, so it isn't a brawl. ANGELS WINGS GETS 1! Standing BME block hits for 2.9! Daniels wants another rana, but Brodie powerbombs him out of it. Discus lariat ends it.

Brodie Lee was out there to prove that he can work a big main event match - and did. Great stuff there. MOX IS HERE! He beats up goons! Brodie tosses one in to leave and then leaves with 10 with the belt. I love how quickly Mox snaps off the DDT now. Mox promises more beatings, delivers one more to a goon. Great show. Women's match was the best in company history. Tag match ruled and got Hardy and Ortiz over big. Main event got everyone involved over, AND THEY'VE GOT TYSON FOR THE PPV. Tremendous two hours.

WWE Money in the Bank 2020

The card is run through and it's so weird seeing Drew as a giant smiling babyface. Jeff being back as the charismatic enigma is neat - that nickname might be TNA's greatest contribution to WWE. Given that I never watch SD, I like the long recap packages for its feuds. They've botched Braun for years - but they're putting him over huge in this video package. Alyse Ashton is in the WWE lobby talking about what WWE Superstars will do to earn the shot - and the risk if worth the reward. Jeff vs. Cesaro gets a CG graphic. Jeff jumping off the second rope for his intro makes me wince. The entire story here is Jeff's redemption - so I wouldn't bet money on Cesaro.

I like that now WWE gets Cesaro's theme right - now SIX YEARS AGO when he had momentum. Odd to not try to tie this match into Cesaro's past with The Bar too and instead just have it be Cesaro as The Opponent for Jeff's redemption. Jeff runs wild and goes for Air Hardy with the steps, but Cesaro grabs him and tosses him on the dasher boards. WHY IS CESARO-JEFF STILL GOING ON AND WHY IS JEFF IN AN ENDLESS CHINLOCK!? Cesaro avoids whisper in the wind and goes for a super gutwrench that Jeff counters into the whisper. "Twist of Fate" is back instead of the Twist of Fury. Only gets 2. Falling slam hits and Jeff goes for the swanton, but a Cesaro uppercut leads to the super gutwrench for 2. Swanton hits for Jeff and he wins it.

MITB cash-in stuff showcases BROCK PARTY LESNAR and then some COVID charity stuff. YES, a boring corporate PA system voice-over! They're definitely getting over the WWE Brand enough here. E does the splits in the corner and is just delightfully lewd. Forgotten Sons...are guys. Fatal four way for the tag titles is up with only 2 guys in at once. FAST AND FURIOUS ACTION!? Has Cole been watching TNA-era Josh Mathews and taking notes? Jesus!

Gunner helps his guys and he gets ejected - much to Corey's dismay. Cole, THE BABYFACE ANNOUNCER, is also against this. Okay great - so everyone just cheat as much as you can. Big E hits the Ending and wins it. Not sure why you wouldn't just give the Sons the belts to start them off "hot", but whatever. Okay. Truth doing his "What's Up" intro in an empty arena is great. ​​​​​​​I think that MVP in just the last four months has had about as many retirement matches as Terry Funk.

Truth and MVP get into a ballin' off. MVP's got his Black Panther getup on and it's some of his best. Byron, the whitest man on Earth, likes the basketball tutorial. LASHLEY COMES OUT. OH MY GOD YES. WE COULD BE GETTING LASHLEY AND MVP BACK TOGETHER AGAIN! This is 5 billion times better than MVP vs. Truth could've been in every way. Giant biel leads to Joe saying that Lashley's his own worst enemy. Spear ends it. This ruled.

Corbin does a terrible-quality selfie video bragging about all of is accomplishments. They tease more issues between Bayley and Sasha as Bayley faces Tamina in a match no one wants. Bayley has a...something bar locked on. I think. Bayley's getting tossed around a ton. Bayley is taking bumps for this match. THIS MATCH. Unreal. Sasha gets in the ring a bunch and Bayley gets a fluke cradle victory OVER TAMINA. Titus O'Neil charity video. Titus is SO AWESOME. Why did it feel like his ad was in fast forward while the one putting WWE over was long and drawn out? Speaking of drawn out, here's Seth yammering on.

It's 8PM and already time for the Universal Title match - so this belt really feels like the World Heavyweight title in the opener ala a decade ago. Happy Bray is out and Braun has camo pants. Braun charges.  Hits. Sometimes gets countered. Now we have puppets at ringside! Abigail hits for 2. Braun counters a second one with a chokeslam and makes sure to cover his bald spot. Strowman Express into the barricade. They keep replaying stuff with echoey commentary - so it's like AAA. Braun puts the mask on and we get some homoerotic comedy with them before Braun fakes Bray out and powerslams him down before yelling quickly about being his old man. Bray sulks and THE FIEND breaks in to set up a rematch.

So Seth and Drew are dull as dishwater promos - but great physically. So let's replay all of their talking in-depth to get this over. Attack of the clones match with Seth vs. Drew. Seth gets an STF and then a crossface. They do all their moves, Drew gets 2.5 off the future shock. Claymore countdown leads to a superkick from Seth and a stomp for 2.5. Drew eats another superkick and Drew absorbs it and lands a claymore to end it. And then they just shake hands. They went through MONTHS of storytelling here to just skip to the finish.

Backstage, Truth says he beat Lashley and MVP lost a lot of weight and laments the loss of his 24/7 Title. Truth's quest for the 24/7 Title is legit more engaging than Drew's WWE Title run. We get wacky intros with elevators and Carmella's gear is amazing.  Asuka dances on the balcony and then goes in an elevator and dances. Otis puts weights on AJ's chest.

Brother Love meets Rey after taking a piss. Bryan hits Dozer with yes kicks in the corner of a makeshift ring before we get a Doink cameo. Dana KOs Nia with a case in a conference room before grabbing A case, but Steph tells her it's not the real one and to clean. Carmella dances and then Lacey KOs her. AJ walks into a room chasing Rey and gets PTSD and Boneyard flashbacks after looking at a Taker photo. Then Black knocks him into a blue-lit room with a casket.

Heyman goes to eat a feast meant for 500 people before the roster gathers in front of him for a food fight. Nia takes out Carmella and stands over her before Otis goes to the cafeteria and hits Big Johnny with a  pie. Bryan and AJ fight in Vince's office and then he tells them to get out...so they do after putting his nice office chairs back. Yikes. Nia and Asuka fight on the roof with a ring on it.

Asuka and Corbin climb and Asuka kicks Corbin down when he tries to prevent her from winning. Corbin and Otis go at it and Otis worm elbows him. AJ and Bryan slug it out on the ladder. PELE TO OTIS! Phenomenal Forearm WITH A HELICOPTER SHOT! AJ and Corbin fight on the ladder, but Elias takes out Corbin and AJ tosses the case down...for some reason and Otis catches it.  All righty. Well Otis vs. Braun is at least new and Otis is...I guess as over as possible.