AEW Dynamite 10-28-20 - Omega vs. Penta

 Dasha tries to talk to Wardlow, but MJF interrupts before he can do so. MJF says that if Wardlow wins the title, it's his title because Wardlow works for him. MJF talks shit about Sammy and tells him to cut the shit and keep the jacket. MJF says Sammy needs to not cut promos and he looks like he sells Adderall to middle schoolers. I love the idea of Sammy as a babyface...but it feels odd to do this while he's a violent heel feuding with Matt Hardy. Page jumps Wardlow with a shotgun dropkick. Wardlow gets a big edge, but misses a swanton. Page gets a running SSP FOR 1! Buckshot is avoided and Wardlow lariats him for 2. F10 hits, but Page rolls out due to where he's planted - frustrated Wardlow. They're telling a great story here of him being inexperienced and that's costing him. They fight up top and Hangman tosses him off the top! BUCKSHOT DROPS HIM TO A KNEE! ANOTHER ONE HITS AND ENDS IT! This was great stuff.

Mox says that he's been defending this title all year and he's defending it not for rankings - but he's defending it and weaponizing it against Eddie Kingston. The Family comes out and Kingston insults Mox for not being here. He's here to take out Matt Sydal THE JOKER IN THE BATTLE ROYAL THAT HE WAS NEVER ELIMINATED IN! Sydal's gear looks fantastic. Sydal armdrags him and gets a Fujiware. METEORA OFF THE TOP gets 2 for Sydal. Spinning backfist KOs Sydal and bulldog chokes him out. He demands Matt quit and so he does. 

Ex talks about chatting with FTR and the Bucks earlier. He's with the Bucks and FTR is elsewhere. The Bucks are dicks to Ex and they rationalize everything they did to show how serious they are - they needed their spark again. FTR storms off and says they aren't needed - they'll see them at Full Gear. Matt and Nick say that they bet on ourselves and Ex knows the story. They've added a stip and at Full Gear, if they don't win the titles, they will never challenge for them again. So they're redoing the Cody stip year to year.

We get a goofy political-style town hall meeting for the Inner Circle. Luchasaurus asks MJF how he can help the Inner Circle draw money. He makes a graphic showcasing how much more profitable it will be. Reba tells Jericho he has a great smile and Britt says she loves MJF, but YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A DENTIST LIKE HER TO KNOW HE'S A BAD FRIEND! Jericho says he knows that and they aren't dipshits. MJF says they got into wrestling for money and titles - and they'll get them all. Peter Avalon begs to join the Inner Circle and gets laughed off. A Mr. Eric B from Wyoming returns! He wants to know what MJF will do to make them better and he IS a total package and he is humble, but he is not the best team player - but he can become that by joining them. 

Jericho is called a primadonna and Tony tells him that Eric has the floor and he says that MJF is similar to him in that way. MJF wants Chris to answer a question and he wants to know why he doesn't get in based on the friendship, gifts, and great TV! HE GAVE HIM HIS BEST SEGMENT OF HIS CAREER. He asks what he hasn't done and Jericho says he hasn't beaten him - but he can do that at Full Gear. IF MJF wins, he's in the Inner Circle. This stip would mean more if THE BUCKS HADN'T JUST ANNOUNCED A STIP OUT OF NOWHERE. MJF tells him he'll do anything to win. Ortriz tells him they don't want him in and he'll team with Sammy next week to face MJF and Wardlow. 

Will Hobbs' win on Dark is shown and Taz says they're about money - and Hobbs is legit. Cody slings him into the buckle. OC gets knocked into the arms of the Best Friends. Satellite DDT is turned into a figure 4, which is turned into a kick of Cody to the floor. We get brawling from the lumberjacks and Cody superplexes him to the pile! STUNNER OUT OF A GORDBUSTER! Silver boots OC behind Cody's back and poses before getting kicked out by Cody. Cross Rhodes hits for the win and then we just get a brawl - so why even bother doing a finish? 

Penelope dresses as OC for Halloween before Miro and Sabian beat up the Best Friends. Serena Deeb comes out and Ex talks about her beating Rosa last night and she comes out with the NWA Women's title. She says the game changed when she won the title. 1-2 record in AEW for the NWA World Women's Champ just makes that title seem so nothing. She's facing Leyla Hirsch, who looks like a local indie shooter gimmick. Big corner dropkick gets 2 for Hirsch. Draping neckbreaker from Serena. Gedo clutch gets 2. Leyla's shining brightly here and Serena...is certainly a good hand. MOONSAULT MISSES FOR HIRSCH! Chain of neckbreakers from Serena and the Tequila Sunrise ends it. This was the best match on the show by far.

Shida challenges Nyla to a match at the PPV and that's made. Shawn Spears it out with Tully. Spears gets a quick win and then a costumer in a bull outfit beats him up. IT'S SCORPIO SKY! TKO! OC faces John Silver at the Buy In. Miro faces Trent next week and Scorpio faces Spears. Cody and AUSTIN AND BILLY OF THE GUNN CLUB face the Dark Order too. The Sweepers are out for Kenny wearing the masks of the Lucha Bros. Love the new giant intro for Kenny.

Okay. Omega going B-show t-shirt with this is a great little heel callback. CHOPS APLENTY takes that away! Penta preps a mega-chop and throws Kenny his glove - which OMEGA BITCH SLAPS HIM WITH! FLIP DIVE BY KENNY! Kenny goes up and gets superkicked into an Alberto double stomp in the corner for 2. TWO SNAPDRAGONS BY KENNY! V TRIGGER. THEN ONE IN THE CORNER TO THE NECK! Omega sets up a superplex to the ramp and Penta headbutts him down and HITS A DESTROYER ON THE RAMP! ZERO FEAR PILEDRIVER HITS FOR 2.9! 

 BASEMENT ENZUIGURI BY PENTA! CIERO MEIDO - V TRIGGER! OWA BUT PENTA FIGHTS OFF. ARM SNAPPER! AND IT HITS! Kenny avoids the Penta driver and gets some chops BUT EATS A SUPERKICK. He blind dives right into a knee! OWA HITS AND ENDS IT! This was one of Kenny's best matches in AEW yet. It sets up Page vs. Omega perfectly - as professional rivals only, for now. 

WWE Hell in a Cell 2020

 A nice Sasha-Bayley video package runs through their modern-day feud. Heyman cuts a fantastic promo about Roman COMMANDING Jey to say I Quit tonight. Long, boring Orton promo to hype up the main event. Sam and King chat inside the cell. Truth beats Gulak after Gulak does some invisible man spots with Little Jimmy, but falls to a Lie Detector. Drew comes to the panel and says Cena sucks. Booker T rambles on for a bit and now the show itself is on. 

I like the old TV and behind the TV video wall stuff here. We get 800 recaps of the Roman-Jey deal to set up their match opening the show. 15 MINUTES INTO THE SHOW, the opener starts. Jey hits a pair of suicide dives. Roman lands two spears, but Jey won't quit even after a shot with the wrist gauntlet. Uso splash, but Roman won't quit. God, WWE's formula just makes it impossible to enjoy a show. So far, they've each used up several of their MAX FINISHERS. WHAT ELSE CAN THEY DO!? Jey gets a strap and says HE'S GONNA WHOOP THE DOG SHIT! And does! Desperation spear! WWE needs to never use "I can't breathe!" in a match's story. 

Roman straps him and ties Jey's wrist to it - leading to Jey using it against Roman. Jey chokes him out with a strap and then a straightjacket variant on it. Jey ASKS IF HE QUIT instead of continuing. Roman locks on the front choke and Jey goes out. Ref TELLS HIM TO QUIT and Roman drive-bys him into the post. Then, ALMOST 40 MINUTES INTO THE PPV, we get a drive-by of the steps into his head into the post. Jey's out and the ref tells Roman he has to call it before beating him up and officials run down. Roman threatens the steps. NO. NOT THE DREADED TRIANGULAR PART OF THE STEPS THAT A HEAD CAN FIT IN! Jimmy runs in to make a save and plea to help Roman. 

Roman says he's sorry and cries. We get shoot namez from Jimmy and then they shake and Roman front chokes him and Roman uses that move to get Jey to quit. Okay. That's cute, but this took WAY TOO LONG. Afa and Sika are on the ramp and they show that he's their chief. AFTER 45 MINUTES, they have the gall to run an ad AND THEN A REPLAY. And now it's Elias vs. Jeff Hardy. An Elias match is a...bold choice to follow that up with. OH HEY A CHINLOCK! Jeff twisto, but Elias rolls out to avoid a swanton and guitar shots him for a DQ. LAW AND OTIS RECAP.  Miz vs. Otis. Nothing much here. Corner lariat by Miz and a sleeper. Tucker KOs Otis with the case and Miz wins the case. Miz calls out both top champs. LOL @ Serous Miz in 2020. 

Bayley vs. Sasha. We get canes, tables, chairs...Sunset flip into a corner chair gets 2 for Bayley. Bayley gets some tape and sticks. ULTRAMEGAKENDOSTICK forthcoming! Shotgun knees into the cell from Sasha. Frog splash, but Bayley gets the chair up. WHY GET A CAN OF SPRAYPAINT WHEN YOU CAN JUST FLYING ELBOW DROP HER THROUGH YOUR GOOFY CONTRAPTION!? SHOCKINGLY, her plan fails and she then eats SHOTGUN KNEES IN THE CORNER. At least she painted NWO on her for some reason. Belly to Bayley gets 2! Chair-trap crossface gets the tap and the title.

MVP says that Lashley will put the US Title on the line tonight and he'll take on anyone. Lashley vs. SLAPJACK! My head canon for the stupid names and outfits is that either Ali saw The Secrets of Pro Wrestling Revealed and thought "man, THAT'S GOOD SHIT, PAL!" or in keeping with the anti-WWE nature of the group, gave a group of talented people gimmicks so bad that it couldn't help but help them outside of WWE since you would never want to book any of these acts in their Retribution gimmick ever. Hurt Lock and Slapjack's out. Remember when the NWO lost all their title matches? Even secondary titles? They send Ali packing and NOW Lashley wears the US Title. 

Drew comes out and gets his huge intro while Orton tries to jump him in street clothes - but no night vision goggles, so he fails. Drew kicks his ass some more and closes the cell door. They brawl and brawl. Drew gets tossed into the steps. Gets a flying neckbreaker. Draping DDT hits and HURTS THE BROKEN JAW. A month later. Orton escapes the cell and Joe says he's just a great general and he's changing the battlefield. Orton goes up top and the ref tells Drew to not follow him up. All this mid-match yammering is bizarre. Randy has a big red pipe up there and then gets tackled and punched. They fight down the cell when Orton...just gets bored and leaves and Drew gets sent off the side of the cell through an announce table. Drew comes up with a bloody mouth. If only they hadn't spent eons killing the importance of announce table spots - then this MIGHT have meant something. Drew gets up and a backslide gets 2, but a claymore leads to Orton rolling out. Claymore misses and the RKO ends it. Orton is now a 14-time World Champion.

AEW Dynamite 10-21-20

 We've got Penta vs. Fenix and Sonny vs. Omega with Sonny replacing his partner Joey. Wardlow's out to face JUNGLE JACK PERRY! Wardlow chucks him down and just slinks away. Takedown and he just stands up on it. Wow. Wardlow REGISTERS a dropkick to the back. Perfect. Right out of the Brody playbook. APRON SUPERKICK BY JACK! Jack gets chucked into the post off a powerbomb. Just like 2K19! Tony messes up the wacky dinner name before Wardlow lariats him to kingdom come for 2! Jack avoids the pull-down knee and knees him! The gordbuster GTS in 2K19 is perfect for Wardlow's pull-down knee. Big tope to the back sends Wardlow into the barricade!

Nip up from Wardlow leads to a run-up punch. SUPERBOMB INTO A RANA BY JACK! SHOTGUN KNEES AND A BACKSTABBER BY JACK! SHOTGUN KNEE FOR 2 off the top! Ramp to ring F-10 hits and then THE BIG TWIRLY F-10 ends it. This ruled! Kingston's top-tier promo from the post-show last week is shown. He says Mox has a wife and his love and ALL HE'S GOT IS WRESTLING! Mox says he was prouder than anyone when Kingston signed with AEW. 

He loved Kingston - but he doesn't know the guy who bitches and moans. He's gonna end it on November 7 at Full Gear when he tortures him until he gets his friend back! The, he'll be left with no one to blame but himself. Sonny is out and Kenny now gets A GIANT INTRO. HE HAS BROKEN MELTZER'S FIVE STAR SCALE SEVEN TIMES AND TRANSLATES FOR NAKAZAWA. PERFECT booking here with Kenny just nailing a V trigger and OWA to end it. PERFECT! Kenny hugs her and is Luger-esque in terms of greatness as a fake babyface. 

Tony chats with OC and then Dasha chats with Cody as he arrives in a giant limo. Cody is a plausible babyface, but has that air of arrogance to him. Eddie Kingston's backstage to respond to Mox. He says he's going to talk about his family first because unlike Mox, he doesn't forget about his people. Penta and Fenix will prove to everyone why they're the best and then Butcher and Blade will take out the fold tonight and beat FTR. Once he gets done with Mox, he'll call his old boss to take him back. Mox was right - he is bitter and angry. HE HATES WHO HE IS BUT HE HAD TO BECOME THIS! My ends justify the means because before, he got nothing and now he gets a World title shot. 

Penta gets an ankle lock. CHOPS APLENTY! I approve of the Shelton-HBK finish being a transitional spot for ONLY THESE MEN. TORNILLO TO THE FLOOR BY FENIX! POP UP SUPERKICK BY FENIX! POP-UP RANA attempt leads to Penta powerbombing him for 2. ARM SNAPPER! Penta sets up a destroyer, but FENIX SNAPS ONE OFF AND WINS IT. This was a highlight reel deal! Best Friends stuff - Chucky blames Trent for spearing it accidentally and we get Miro saying he was TRYING TO BE FRIENDLY!

Silver and Reynolds take over Colt's promo.  "I HAVE A GREAT SINGLES RECORD WITH MY FRIENDS!" "We are not friends. No, not at all." Hangman's graphic lets us know he entered the tourney via a series of drunken voicemails. Uno gives Colt advice for an early lead, but a boot and SSP turn the tide for Hangman. Three camera cuts FOR THE FOREARM ON THE APRON alone! Diving splash misses for Colt and Hangman powerbombs him for 2. STOP TAKING FUCKING APRON BUMPS IN A COLT CABANA MATCH! Superman pin gets 2 for Colt. Colt gets taken out and Dark Order picks him up.

Hardy compound match between Matt and Sammy at Full Gear in the form of ELITE DELETION. Team Taz is out and Starks is dressed like a total douche. He demands that Will Hobbs gives them an answer and says that earlier today, TK told him that if Starks beat Darby Allin, he'd be getting the TNT Title! Jericho and MJF have a pissing contest over steak before BREAKING INTO A BRIAN AND STEWIE MUSIC NUMBER! They get their bloody steaks and then want them sent back. This was ungodly amazing. 

Tony has notes! Britt is wearing pink for breast cancer. Britt has IT! Britt projects being a star even better now and has smoothed out a lot of the rough patches in her game pre-injury. Surfboard CURB STOMP BY BRITT! Ex gets in a Super Dragon reference on TNT in 2020. CORNER FLATLINER! Kilynn gets a high kick, but Britt avoids a German. Slingblade and a DDT hit before a fisherman neckbreaker hits. Hard curb stomp hits! Glove and LOCKJAW END IT! Britt is like Tessa in how crisp she is now. OC vs Cody is now a lumberjack match next week. 

New Darby video with Steve O. Darby rolls off a half-pipe in a body bag. Okay kiddo. Butcher and the Blade come out and we see the Bunny break QT's heart and rejoin the Butcher and Blade. Private Party and Dark Order get PIP intros while the Bucks get a full-screen intro. Britt Baker-esque tan for Matt tonight. Silver and Quen are great together. "HE'S ALL JACKED UP ON DIET MOUNTAIN DEW!" cracking up FTR is tremendous. SILLY STRING TO REYNOLDS! SUPERKICK PARTY TO BUTCHER! Indytaker/senton combo gets 2! Almost A YEAR LATER, Private Party beating the Bucks still has significance, BTW. Callback to that finish leads to THE BUCKS WINNING IT when they reverse the cradle that beat them then. Tremendous! The best part is it really only get 2.8 - so it helps Private Party if they want to.

A MYSTERY MAN ATTACKS and they Pillmanize Matt's leg and IT'S TULLY, who got quite physical here. This was a good way to make the Bucks the face for this. Good stuff. They've done a fantastic job building this feud up overall.

WCW Clash of the Champions XX - 20 Years of Wrestling on TBS

 

We get Gordon and Andre before OF COURSE HERE'S BILL WATTS IN HIS PRIME! Andre, Bruno, Hank Aaron, Bill Watts, and Sting arrive. Bill Watts is of course with the black mayor of Atlanta of the time to show that he couldn't possibly be racist. Jim Ross talks about taking a tally on the hotline about taking away the top rope DQ rule - well, might as well try to make money off it somehow. Steamboat's out to face Austin with his Jesus Christ Superstar knockoff before Johnny B is out to introduce the girl for the national anthem. 

Ricky takes him down with a headlock takedown. Great back and forth action and the crowd goes nuts for Steamer throughout this. Long, good abdominal stretch leads to a Ricky escaping and getting a tombstone and crossbody off the top to win it since it's no DQ. Clip of Mr. Wrestling II winning with the kneelift. Tag team history video airs. Jesse meets with Hayes, Arn, and Eaton about Michael giving them advice on Terry Gordy.  Slater and Valentine are mid-ring to face Arn and Eaton. We get some great action from Eaton before Arn hits a spinebuster. Larry hits Greg with a cast before Eaton hits the Alabama jam to win it. 

Bruno promo about this show and Halloween Havoc '92. Teddy is with Andre and Gordon Solie. WE GET A BULLET BOB PROMO! Randy Watson's speaking style is right out of Thunderbolt Patteron's promos. Mr. Wrestling II chats from Hawaii about HOW WRESTLING IS GETTING BACK TO WRESTLING! Tony talks about Brad being hurt in Japan wrestling Muta. Bill puts over Brad as a fiery babyface who wants to come back, but couldn't DUE TO THE DOCTORS and he's being stripped of the belt for a tourney later. Pillman cuts AN AMAZING promo on Brad for being a coward for not wrestling and depriving all his fans of seeing him win the title - to the point that even Jesse is defending Brad.

Singles star video package. Simmons title win video package. Cactus is out to face Ron in slick black and yellow gear. Ron whips his ass and beats him with a powerslam that demolishes his ribs after already killing him with the spinebuster. We get clips of Chono's NWA Title win in Japan, starting with the celebration and leading to the match...as ya do. We get a Rude promo about wanting the NWA Title - but he's got the US Title too. ANOTHER HALLOWEEN HAVOC VIDEO! Nice intense promo from Jack here. He knows Ron's weaknesses and he's BUTCH REED. Reed and Barb face Dustin and Barry and BARB WINS WITH A GIANT BOOT! 

We get clips of Dusty and Willie Nelson. The history of Sting and Vader is showcased before we see Rude and Nikita brawl. We get some NJPW footage of the Steiners double impact DDTing Mutoh. Rude talks out Nikita with a knee on the apron allowing Jake to schoolboy him for the elimination. Sting takes out the Super Invader with a facejam! Rick goes for the double impact, but can't get Vader up - so he holds him with his head and Scott lariats Vader who takes a nasty head bump! Cactus clothesline by Rick after Scott's DQed for going off the top. Vader goes for a floor powerbomb on Rick, who barely backdrops him up and Vader flips himself over. Rick gets counted out and it's Sting versus everyone! Vader splashes Sting, but hits Rude! Jake DDTs Sting to win it! 

AEW Dynamite 10-14-20 - One Year Anniversary!!

 

Dynamite is a year-old and it starts off hot with the Best Friends facing FTR for the tag titles. Dax has his main eventer tan on tonight. Dax works over Trent amid a BEST FRIENDS chant, which just makes Dax chop him harder. Cash locks on a neckbar while they hype up tickets and go through all of this awkward CDC guideline copy. Sole Food/half and half hits for TBF! Trent counters a back suplex with a bodyblock for 2! Trent baseball slides Cash and they brawl on the floor where Trent goes for a spear and Cash moves and spears Miro's...arcade machine stand that has nothing in it. I guess it could be a MAME cab and a hollow cabinet. Penelope runs backstage and Cash tosses Trent into the ring. Cash belts Chucky and Dax wins it!

BEST FRIENDS HUG before Miro kills them for destroying his arcade. This is solid storytelling and it leads into their next match where they kill Lee Johnson and Sean Maluta. Miro is "a Brute of a Bulgarian!" according to JR. Game Over to Maluta ends it! Kip laments the lost of Allen the arcade machine before Miro says "GOOD FRIENDS!? YOU BREAK MY SHIT! GAME OVER!" Miro rules! Backstage, Lance beats up Mox! 

The AEW World Title tourney bracket is shown off and MJF comes out to put over Jericho. The Inner Circle comes out one year after being formed and has Jericho's theme sung. MJF says that was good - but for future reference, they're off-key. MJF talks about Sammy's jacket and of course, it's way too big for him. MJF looks at Jericho's abs and says he's a genetic freak. He loves the bodacious mane, which the fans can't relate too since they're all balding. He wants to touch the hair and Jericho lets him before telling him to cut the shit.

Jericho wants to hear the proclamation and MJF says he's sensing hostility and he can keep it real, homie. He says they're both the biggest ratings-getters for AEW and Jericho's the Demo God while he's THE RATINGS RULING, BAYBEE! MJF says Jericho likes Animal Planet and he says he's hates it while MJF says that's natural - it's not under the Turner umbrella. He says they're both predators and their prey has adapted and they need to adapt and need to work together. He says he'd like to jo...G GET IT TOGETHER! JOIN THE INNER CIRCLE! Ortiz says they don't want him in and Jericho gives that a waitaminute. He wants to meet him FOR A STEAK DINNER. They cut a promo on a steak dinner ala the PC and shake on it. Tremendous stuff.

Britt gets a massage with Tony and says that you need to be the baddest bitch on the block before being grossed out by Tony being covered up and nude. They convince him to get a chest wax before Britt says nothing can slow her down. Britt says she's treating herself to a victory THAT TONY WASN'T EVEN THERE FOR and she doesn't care that he was superkicked, SHE WAS KICKED IN THE NOSE! She'll be in ring next week. Oh God these two have such great chemistry. 

Cody comes out for his TNT Title match and has now added a pink background and a kiss with Brandi to his intro. Jesus what a heel who thinks he's a babyface thing to do. He's back to the blonde hair and gets mule kicked on the ground. Pushing tope by OC! Silver grabs the belt before Orange grabs it and the ref kicks out the Dark Order guys in the crowd. Cody crotches OC and Darby watches on. Cody hits a reverse superplex before a diving DDT hits for OC! Cody gets a figure 4 but gets to the rope. BEACH BREAK ON THE APRON! OC gets the Mouse Trap, but time expires at 2.5! It's amazing how time cues can pay off as storytelling devices and did so here nicely. 

Backstage, we get another Mox-Archer brawl. Matt Hardy and his family are here and he puts over AEW and the crew. He's cleared to return and we get a photo montage of his modern-day recreations of past gimmicks before someone sets fire to the photos. IT'S SAMMY as Matt talks about their vendetta being over. Matt sees this and is pissed before Sammy says he took Matt out at All Out and he'll take him out every time they clear him. Good stuff.

Tony is out with a tumbler to announce a four-way tag match for a title shot at Full Gear. Private Party, Silver/Reynolds, with Reynolds doing this great goofy hop on the steps and them both bugging the shit out of FTR trying to get a hug. I like that EVEN ALEX REYNOLDS is annoyed by John Silver. Butcher and the Blade are team 3 and team 4 is the Bucks and Tony throws down the paper in disgust. AEW got MORE OUT OF A SLIP OF PAPER as a piece of character work than WWE gets out of title belts. Nick says they're not here to superkick Tony - they're here to superkick FTR! They hit Blade and Reynolds and wreck shit up. Tremendous!

Swole vs. Shida is up and Swole...tries but the tamashi ends it. Le Dinner Debonair is hyped up for next week and in two weeks, it's Cody vs. OC II for the TNT Title. Kingston and Lucha Bros come down to the announce table. We get some Spears vs. Sky video about Spears stalking him, which feels like we're missing chapters in the book. Spears knows the values of a moment ala Cody and he and Tully will collect on the debt. Okay then, sure whatever. King says he's here because he knows Mox better than anyone. Archer gets a new plate glass intro wall and theme before tossing a guy through it. H

Mox hits a shift immediately for a 2 before Archer chokeslams him through a chair bridge. Mox gets a kneebar and a Shift off the apron through a double table setup. Another Shift gets 2 and a bulldog choke, but Archer breaks in the ropes. A crucifix out of the Blackout gets the win for Mox and Kingston's team of Penta and Fenix jumps him. Kingston takes him out with a backfist and RNC and Mox passes out. Great stuff.

WCW Great American Bash 1992

 It's Board Watchalong time! We get an NWA Tag Title tourney rundown and the main event of Sting vs. Vader. Tony and Magnum welcome us to the show and Magnum's mullet is flying proud. Nogami is out and he's replaced by Shinya Hashimoto to team with Hase. Venutra wears an insane suit and Eric Bischoff meets with Bill Watts. In the NWA tag title tourney, you can jump off the top - but in WCW, it's a DQ. 

Pillman and Liger are out as a team to face Nikita FROM LITHUANIA and Steamboat. Pillman and Liger are the favorites due to the flying while the opponents are heavyweights. Brian and Liger work on the arm of Nikita. Pillman works on Ricky with a long chinlock. LIGER HITS A MOONSAULT for 2. Tombstone gets 2 for Liger. Brian runs wild and hits Air Pillman off the top and hooks the head nicely! Brian gets a sleeper on Koloff before we get Steamer vs Liger for some fast-paced action. Liger misses a dropkick and Pillman comes in with a crossbody off the top BUT IT'S STEAMER'S MOVE so he rolls through and pins him.  

Angry Steiners promo leads to Hashimoto and Hase coming out to one of two Japanese wrestler themes WCW used. Ross goes into Hase being a professor and we get Hase and Hashimoto working with Garvin, who wants nothing to do with movement or bumping. JESUS that long gutwrench gutbuster on Hayes was unreal. Hase was a low-key powerhouse. HASHIMOTO HITS A BLOCKBUSTER HOLD ON HAYES! Seeing Hashimoto do a bridge is unreal. Hayes takes them down with a pair of left hooks. Hase locks on a northern lights suplex to Hayes and wins it. 

Watts has the NWA Title belt and announces a Sumo Palace tourney SELLING IMMEDIATELY. He gives Hiro Matsuda the belt.  "WE TOOK THE NAME OF THE LAST CHAMPION WHO WORE THIS BELT, RIC FLAIR, OFF THE BELT!" That doesn't quite bury him like you think it does...Watts buries the NWA Title tourney by saying that the winner should face Sting to unify it. Rude and Austin are out and Madusa is looking sharp in a captain's getup. 

Jesse is pissed about Barry taping the fist up and Steve takes two bumps for it and an epic face-first bump off a corner elbow by Dustin! Rude charges into a boot and a lariat hits before a BACK SUPLEX. Rude works over Barry with a slick piledriver. Steve works Barry over with a chinlock as Jesse talks about this sapping him further. GOOD IS DUMB as Dustin distracts the ref allowing for the heels to switch without a tag. 

We're at an HOUR OF TAG MATCHES here and each match has a least been different. DUSTIN COMES IN AND RUNS WILD! Dustin hits a lariat off the top and we get a three count and a strange picture in picture of the winning pinfall. Well, that's a different thing to do I guess. Vader is with Harley and Eric Bischoff. 

Steamboat and Koloff are out for the semis against the Miracle Violence Connection. MVC is out with a fan loving their act with a goofy sign. Long chinlock kills the fans before Doc muscles Steamboat around. Bam Bam and Nikita go at it before Gordy tags in Doc. Nikita works him over with a front facelock before working into a dragon sleeper before a front choke. Ricky's back in and the crowd's alive and we get some weird cradles for 2. 

Ricky goes for a crucifix, but Doc RUNS HIM INTO THE BUCKLE WITH IT. Now that's a new one! Terry's in and misses a right arm lariat, but lands a left. Man was he born to be a wrestler. Nikita tags in and runs wild on Doc. He has his working shoes on tonight. GORDY LOCKS ON THE STF! Hopefully Erik Watts saw this and realized how shitty his version was. ELEVATED CRAB BY DOC! Nikita FALLS INTO A TAG TO STEAMBOAT FOR A HOT TAG! Diving chop off the top to Doc's back. Gordy shoves Ricky off the top into a spinebuster position and DOC HOLDS HIM AND SPINEBUSTER STAMPEDES HIM FOR THE WIN. Doc, even looking...about 45 here...was so damn strong. 

Hase and Hashimoto are out to face Dustin and Barry! We start off with some wrestling while Jesse talks about HOW YOU SEE WRESTLING HERE IN WCW. Hashimoto gets Barry in a cross armbreaker/triangle combo. Hashimoto and Hase hit a stuffed piledriver on Dustin. Barry hurls Hase into a powerslam for 2. Dustin comes in and leapfrogs Hase into a Barry lariat to end it. Ron puts over THE WORLD TITLE here in WCW and he wants to see who wins the title tonight.

Sting's got his USA jacket on while Vader is rocking the helmet. Ross brings up Vader's football history, because of course he does. Vader does a test of strength and Sting loses that - so he thumbs the eye and backhands him! STING WAS A SMART BABYFACE! Sting goes for a sunset flip but Vader drops down and does a double bicep while Ross and Jesse bury the WBF. "I heard bodybuilding wasn't doing so good!" "It don't pay nothin'!"

Vader gets a scorpion deathlock on as they go over the shoulders of Tony and Ron and we see Vader and Sting blurred in the background - tremendous shot there. A rarity on WCW broadcasts. Sting powers out. JAYSUS that right hook from Vader! I like that the bad execution actually plays into protecting the move since sure, Sting escaped - but it was only due to Vader not having Sting's experience in properly applying the hold. I love Sting busting out the koppou kick from time to time. DDT! Sting gets him in the corner and struggles with every fiber of his body to get a Samoan drop out of the corner!

LOOK AT THAT FACE! This man makes you believe. That's something Hulk Hogan never could do. You never believed there was a struggle. Here, his legs are shaking and his face is grimacing as he struggles to get AND KEEP Vader up.

Sting gets a German suplex for 2! Stinger Splash! A second one to the back leads to Sting hitting the hook of the post! He's out on his feet here! STING GETS OUT AT 2. He's down and out though. He can barely stand. Vader powerbombs him and cradles him in the cover to win it. FANTASTIC match. The post-match has Nikita and even Ole come out to help Sting up. I love the symbolism here of Ole, letting the past be the past, helping Sting out of the ring here. It's a small bit of long-term storytelling that rewards you for being a long-time viewer.

LOCKER ROOM INTERVIEW with Vader and Race. I love that WCW would do this stuff - it makes it feel like a sporting event. This is all so perfect. So of course it's time to close the show with the NWA World Tag Title closing the show out. On one hand, hey, that's the focal point of this show - so fair play there. On the other, THE WORLD TITLE IS THE WORLD TITLE and should close the show. The Steiners come down and get ejected. A ONE HOUR TIME LIMIT is announced as fans somehow don't just make a beeline for the exit. 

Doc works a long bodyscissor on Dustin after Dustin throws elbows. Okay, it's THE MAIN EVENT OF THE SHOW. We can start with something other than headlock>headscissors spots and bodyscissors.... TOP WRISTLOCK. Gordy gets an STF for Dustin. Doc comes in and gets a long chinlock/bodscissors...Jesus Christ! They're literally working this like they're opening match guys on a Mid-South Wrestling TV taping, but CAN DO moves from 1992. OH THANK GOD Barry ran into the buckle. We've got a sign of life in this match. DOC GETS THE TORTURE STRETCH. Now we're cooking with at least a light flame here. We're at Bic Lighter-levels, but I'll take it. 

Well that lasted about a minute. Time to put that fire out. WE'VE GOT SOME WRESTLING TO DO BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT WE DO IN WCW. WE WRESTLE! This is right out a latter-day Gagne show where the ship is sinking and he's giving you boiler plate wrestling, putting it over as THE REAL WRESTLING LEAGUE while fans chant "boring" and he's stuck doing commentary WHILE THIS IS GOING ON explaining the logic behind it all. Doc hits a left arm lariat and Dustin spins for the sell to end it. THANK GOD! 

Doc and Gordy are unified champs. Ross talks about how in seven days, Gordy and Doc have won the WCW World Tag Titles and NWA World Tag Titles. We get a runthrough of the events tonight by both sets of announcers and Gordy and Doc stare down the crowd. Boy was this the wrong team to close out a show - second PPV in the watchalong with the Beach Blast show after this being evidence of that too.