AEW Dynamite 3-31-21 - ARCADE ANARCHY

 It's MAME MADNESS with Arcade Anarchy! Christian Cage vs. Kazarian starts things off and Ex talks about seeing them in a tag match at the galaxy theater almost 20 years ago and now here they are on TNT. Ex talks about their ladder match 13 years ago and Kaz winning that one. They start off with a tie-up and we get a lot of matwork just to prove that both men can do it. They fight on the ramp and Christian uppercuts him, but eats a backdrop into the ring.

Kaz chops away and then works heel working on the neck and head. Cage sends him down, but misses a splash off the top. Kaz gets cocky, and eats a possum package before landing a trio of clubbing shots and the big leg gets 2! Flux Capacitor hits for 2! Kaz misses a corner charge and the Killswitch is engaged and ends it! This was technically very good, but very rote and never got out first gear. QT gets a jobber intro and Cody gets his usual PPV-level intro with half the Earth singing his praises. We get a "Cody's Friend" chant for QT and he takes out Arn! Some of the Nightmare Family turn on Cody! Just imagine how good this would be if we knew who any of these guys were and they'd built this up over a few months. QT piledrives Dustin on the steps! This part is good. They go to take out Cody, but Red Velvet bitches them out and they leave. 

We get a bitter Sky and Ethan Page video - so they're a team and they'll take everyone out on Monday, starting with the Sydals on Elevation. Mox is PISSED OFF, he's itchy, his burns hurt, his scars hurt and Cezar can make AEW money - BUT NOT IF HE KILLS HIM TONIGHT. Recap of the Kingston beating. Cezar...grinds away and we go to a break for MORE GRINDING. Nice rolling elbow by Mox! Nemeth eats a Death Rider and Cezar pumphandles him, but eats an RNC!  That's it. Great! This didn't need to be this long. Starks  talks about the old Team Taz is back - but he wants to hear from Cage... MJF hypes up his boys and goes to knock the bathroom, but THE INNER CIRCLE IS HIDING! 

Dax gets split the fuck open and Jake and Wardlow brawl. MJF gets a swirly AND SENDS HIM THROUGH THE PEPSI MACHINE! Marvez chats with the Bucks before Laredo Kid and the Lucha Bros against The Good Brothers and Omega. Don tells Matt that THEY NEED TO TALK. Kenny chose YOU and your brother - not AEW, because YOU'RE FAMILY. Don calls him dead inside, so Matt slaps him. I love Laredo's 1989 denim jacket and PENTA SAYS THAT OMEGA'S LUCK HAS RUN OUT!

Lots of wackiness here, including a piggyback walk from Omega to Doc with a TRIPLE SPLASH as a result. Rocket kick hits for 2.9 with Fenix FLIP BUMPING for it. Hook kick by Fenix leads to the Destroyer to Omega! Fenix goes for a Lethal Injection, but eats a spinebuster by Anderson! Kneeling BANG knee by Omega gets 2 on  Laredo. OWA MEETS A RANA and a tope suicida! TRIANGLE SOMERSALT SENTON BY PENTA TO THE GOODBROTHERS! Enzuiguri by Laredo and the ROPEWALK PK BY FENIX leads to the spike Michinoku by Laredo! Phoenix splashed avoided, V trigger hits and the OWA ends it. Laredo Kid got over huge here!

MOX COMES DOWN AND HE'S WITH THE BUCKS! Heels run and we've got ANOTHER FACTION. Kinda. Reba does Tony's role for Britt and she says that Rosa is on the rundown - and it's a great way for her to get her wins up BECAUSE THE LIGHTS OUT MATCH DIDN'T COUNT! Matt Hardy talks about The Bunny being excluded - BUT NOW, SHE WON'T BE DUE TO HIM! Bunny and Nyla face Tay and Shida, with a lot of sloppy Bunny offense and Shida suplexing her into Nyla. Conti runs wild on Bunny! Modified GTS hits for Conti and she dives on the pile! Bunny uses a kendo stick on her and a Helms Street/Down the Rabbit Hole ends it.

Miro is SUCH A STAR and they appear to be using real cabinets! The singlet top makes Chuck Taylor look like he's even in worse shape. They've got WHACK A MOLE and a prize station! Miro beats OC up with a mole hammer, as you do. SLIDING CAN LID SHOT TO MIRO after Chuck and OC beat him up with a can lid and kendo stick. BARRICADE LARIAT BY THE FACES! They cover him in a table too for 2 when Kip saves. GERMAN TO CHUCK ON THE FLOOR! Shotgun dropkick to OC! Chuck unloads a LEGO LOADED TEDDY BEAR! LIGERBOMB BY KIP ON THE LEGOS FOR 2 WHEN OC SAVES!

BEACH BREAK TO KIP. ORANGE PUNCH KOS HIM but Penelope pulls Aubrey out! Penelope low blows OC. KRIS STATLANDER SAVES HER BELOVED BY POPPING OUT OF THE UFO CATCHER! She hits a fire thunder driver OFF THE APRON THROUGH AN AIR HOCKEY TABLE! TRENT'S MOM SUE'S MINI-VAN RETURNS! WITH TRENT! 

TRENT SPEARS MIRO THROUGH A TABLE! Chuck powerslams Kip off the ramp and through a table and wins it! This match was a load of fun! BEST FRIENDS HUG but now WITH KRIS and a thumbs up from Sue. THIS SHOW RULED. That match was just a riot and so much fun to see unfold.

WCW Clash of the Champions 23 - June 16, 1993

This will be the final Board watchalong for Clash shows until they go back on Peacock - so we'll go out with a bang here! We start things off with a card rundown - and it's stacked, especially for a TV show in this era. You've got tag titles, the NWA Title, and TV Titles on the line alongside a six-man tag. Flair and Arn vs. the Blondes is such a great stylistic matchup. This is at the Scope in Norfolk, VA - which is where they would later hold the World War 3 cards. This venue always looks great on TV. Jesse and Tony are on the call, and while Jesse's WCW stuff was hit or miss - if Rude's on the show, he's going to be "on" for at least one match. 

Ron Simmons vs. Paul Orndorff starts the show off and Ron is OVER here. Fans are doing the wave with him and he comes off like a star. Not "THIS GUY WAS WORLD CHAMP A YEAR AGO!"-level, but a star. Dick Slater is out as Paul's replacement due to a groin injury. Whoever told Slater to wear trunks was a bad friend. Slater eats a punch and rolls out. Tony talks about Ron beating Paul on TV after the TV time limit. I love Jesse making LOGICAL POINTS about the advantage of being a champion - and especially the TV Title's time limit. 

Hiptoss out of the corner and a 3 point stance is avoided when Paul grabs the leg. Simmons and Slater slug it out and Ron powerslams him to win it. Larry chats about things for a bit, mainly THE YOUTH. and THEN ERIC INTERVIEWS MICHAEL BUFFER. What an amazing 10 seconds of TV. Regal makes amazing faces, we get a fan showing WHY he does so, then the director...cuts to a shot of a guy SHOOTING REGAL before finally getting that guy's camera shot of Regal himself. Tremendous. 

Regal works him over for a bit before Jesse talks about how much tougher rugby is than football. Regal cheats a bit with the tights to win this with an O'Connor roll. We get a tremendous shot of the Scope and a plug for an OFFICIAL TAPE OF THE SHOW, which I had no idea about. Maxx says he'll give Johnny his Badd Blaster and BADD BLASTS HIS FACE OFF!

Z-MAN COMES OUT IN BRIGHT BLUE SWEATS and beats him up for a bit with a nice superkick and then eats the Paynekiller for an injury angle. I dig it - you get him over as a killer with the blaster and then get his hold over. Great booking for a mediocre talent. SCORPIO'S THEME IS INTACT! Barry's, sadly is too. Glad Scorpio's WCW theme is owned by WWE. They should re-release that on digital platforms. Maybe don't do that for Barry's WCW theme here. Jesus, what a horrible semi-main event heel theme song. MICHAEL BUFFER IS HERE AND YOU'D BETTER MAN YOUR BATTLESTATIONS, THIS IS FOR THE NWA CHAMPIONSHIP! Hearing Michael Buffer do a 2 Cold Scorpio intro running down his stats, 400 matches, being ranked 3 in the world, and coming back from Japan is surreal. HE'S THE DISS THAT DON'T MISSSS!

Jesse talks about Scorp being the underdog and underlying that, a tag wrestler - so he has nothing to lose here. He can run wild and take more chances than Barry. Barry bullies Scorp around while Jesse gets in a great line about wondering which guy Jordan's betting on. Barry clubs him on the apron and has...slowed the pace down. Jesse's "Out Cold Scorpio" line is fantastic. Barry wants the superplex, but Barry IS BLOCKED! ROTATING SPLASH hits and gets 2. I like that since it wasn't the finish, HE DIDN'T KILL HIS FINISH. RANA BY SCORP! BACK-BUMP DROPKICK OFF THE TOP FOR 2. Scorp flies in AND EATS A PERFECT PUNCH. That needs to be a finish NOW. Leaping DDT hits-ish for the win. This was either bland, or really fun - no in-between.

Another plug for the tape. FOUR TO SIX WEEKS FOR DELIVERY. Holy Jesus.  Davey, Sting and Dustin are backstage with Eric for a promo and I think Davey's steroids are on steroids because he is ungodly huge here. Sting says "I'LL BE DAMNED IF I LET  ANYONE MASTER ME" resulting in an amazing Davey face. 

Six man tag is up and we've got some amazing Dustin-Vader stuff here alongside a reprisal of Sting vs. Vader and Sting vs. Rude. Tons of great action here and a briefcase shot to Dustin ends it and gives Rude a win over Dustin. They go to double powerbomb Davey, but Rude sneaks up and honestly looks like he'll take out Sid but Sting stops him. I love Rude because yeah, he's a heel - but he really did seem like he would smack Sid with the case because he's enough of a badass to take on Race, Vader, and Sid by himself to get a shot at Vader's title. 

Buffer does the intros for the world tag title match - which FEELS LIKE A MAIN EVENT MATCH here. Arn as a babyface is the EXACT SAME CHARACTER he is as a heel, only he's fighting bad guys. Brian does Flair's strut and holds his back and Arn has enough of this shit and just throws him on the mat by his hair. Brian chops him and calls him a fucking bitch in the corner before eating a shot to the jaw. Another great thing about Arn being a face - as a heel, YOU CAN'T OUT-CHEAT HIM! MASSIVE WE WANT FLAIR chant. THEY GET HIM and pop huge!

GOD HAS ENTERED THE RING! Flair beats the shit out of both of them, then Arn pops Brian in the corner. FLAIR FISHHOOKS AUSTIN! Ric chops and punches him before Arn stomps away on Steve STEVE AND ARN GO AT IT and Arn headbutts him! Steve missing the rope-ass drop BUT RECOVERING ENOUGH TO DO THE FILM REEL BIT is amazing. SNAP DDT HITS FOR ARN! FLAIR IS IN AND AXEHANDLES BRIAN! Flair flying forearms Brian and WINS THE FIRST FALL, which Buffer calls a title win. 

Thankfully, that happens as they're fading to a break - so it's barely audible. FLAIR FLIP OVER THE ROPE AND HE RUNNING CHOPS BRIAN AND AUSTIN. God, Flair is such a fun babyface during this era. Superplex by Austin to Flair and it only gets 2 off a super-lazy cover by Steve. AUSTIN STOMPS A MUDHOLE IN THE NATURE BOY! Brian clips Arn for a nearfall! More heel teams need to bring back the "hold your partner's head during a half-crab" spot. Mainly THE VARSITY BLONDS. ENZUIGURI BY ARN! 

Flair gets a figure four, but BARRY ATTACKS FOR A DQ and we get a Roma save. Roma gets no pop saving Flair, who IS GOD HERE. Barry cuts a promo on Flair and the Blonds retain because the last fall ended in a DQ, so while the champs lost the match, the titles can't change hands. Oh bull-shit! This was a pretty fun show overall - with the Regal match probably being the most amusing, but the tag title match was still fantastic. Great work always holds up nicely.

WWE Fastlane 2021

The kickoff starts off with banter and a FANTASTIC Drew vs. Sheamus video that shows the story and doesn't just tell it - something this story has needed forever. Whole bunch of nothing. Ali vs. Riddle is up after Ali LOST CLEAN ON RAW. Somersault backstabber gets 2 for Ali. Ali whips off the ropes into an RNC, but escapes and gets the Koji Clutch. Super Bro Derek ends it. Mia Yim stands up to Ali and TOWERS over him before leaving. Slapjack leaves and then T-Bar and Mace double chokeslam/uranage Ali. Great Bryan-Reigns hype video.

Women's tag starts things off formally. EVERYONE IN THIS MATCH HATES THEIR PARTNER and Cole is going overboard with the EST bit. Nice department of tourism pitch by Cole there. All of WWE's hype just makes me not want to go see their shows live. Double-team wheelbarrow GTS by the faces and the crossface is on, but Nia saves. DISTRACTION SCHOOLBOY ENDS IT because of course. They bitch and moan to each other ENDLESSLY. 

E vs. Apollo starts off with the suicide spear and shit-talking before E hits the apron splash. ROLLING GERMANS BY APOLLO! Frog splash hits and gets 2 for Apollo. Cradle ends it? Maybe? ANGLE SLAM BY APOLLO. Apollo tells him it's not over. Joe Average gives Drew Gulak some Old Spice. This of course leads to a 24/7 skit with Tozawa calling out for Truth. Joe Average beats Truth and then Truth beats him. Shane brings Elias out to perform before letting him know that he's taking his place - THANKS BUDDY! Braun beats up everyone and powerslams Elias to win. Riddle-Ali recap. THE RETAINMENT!? Is that a word? Horrible Riddle-Nakamura skit with Nak leaving mid-goofiness. 

Seth vs. Nakamura is up and in the tieup is already the best thing on the show. Irish whip gamenguri by Nak! THEN THINGS GRIND with Seth on offense. Triangle armbar leads to Seth  getting to the ropes. Apron knee to the jaw by Nakamura. Corner dangling knee by Nak before Nak gets pulled off the top to the apron to the floor and eats a dive. Back and forth forearm exchange. Corner sliding German leads to a buckle bomb by Seth. Stomp misses into a Landslide for 2. Low-Ki boomerang kick by Seth! Stomp hits and ends it. This was...fine-ish at points. 

Drew's in a Braveheart getup for this and they have a standard WWE weapons brawl. Drew tosses him around ringside and rakes at his face before throwing him through some blowy-up stuff. Drew throws him on a road crate to bring him to the ring and suplexes him on the floor again. Sheamus rakes the eyes and HE BROGUE KICKS HIM INTO THE VIRTUAL WWE UNIVERSE! Sheamus is LOOKING AT THE MANIA SIGN. Drew is doomed! White Noise off the barricade through the announce table. Future Shock onto piece of the announce table and the claymore ends it.  

Alexa vs Orton hype video. Randy's out and spits up black goo. Lexi's out in white goth makeup and goofy theme mashups. Randy rushes in, but teleportation saves Lexi. Lexi looks up and a lighting rig almost falls on Randy. She tells him to be careful - the sky's falling and MARCHES AWAY. Okay that's great. She blows a kiss that turns into a fireball and Orton...kinda avoids it and she celebrates. A charred Fiend grabs Randy's foot and she dropkicks him into a Sister Abigail and straddles him to win. More WM sales pitch  bullshit about going to FLORIDA of all places now. 

Heyman on Talking Smack recap airs and he says that Bryan is hope - but he'll just catch an ass-whipping. ROMAN IS THE SUN THAT THE WWE UNIVERSE ORBITS. Cole says it's a five time World Champion vs. a five time World Champion. Bryan mocks him for almost getting caught on a single-leg and is so great as a cocky, smug prick who knows he's a better wrestler. Roman wants a test of strength and gets it - but Bryan escapes it with some European style and gets a rolling armbar. Roman snaps him down with a side headlock takeover. 

Roman gets turned into a Policeman-style armbar before kneeing Bryan from a downed position. Dropkick OUTTANOWHERE by Bryan! Armpumphandle leads to a series of leg kicks by Bryan. Corner comeback by Bryan leads to a tilt a whirl by Roman for 2. Roman snap suplexes him over for 2. Yes  Locks-aplenty, but the ref eats a knee. Edge comes in and counts 2 for Roman, but eats an accidental chairshot from Bryan. Another yes lock, but Edge chairshots Bryan, then Roman, then Bryan again for good measure and that's it. Roman retains. 

AEW Dynamite 3/17/21 - St. Patrick's Day Slam

 Alex and Penta start things off with a promo and Alex is SUCH A JOYOUS dickhead just being buddies with Penta, but not being really heelish. He and Cody slug it out with forearms on the floor before Penta attacks the arm. Penta gets a gamenguri on the apron, but eats a triangle disaster kick and a tope suicida! DESTROYER FROM CODY and the Cody Cutter gets 2! CROSS RHODES HITS but Penta kicks out! Cody works on the knee on the post and a figure four is locked on! ARM SNAPPER, BUT CODY ROLLS HIM UP AND WINS IT! This was short, but sweet! Penta jumps him and Dustin and the rest of the Nightmare Family make the save.

Don Callis talks shit about the Bucks going soft and shows off a DO NOT SLAP THE LEG shirt for them. He longs for them to be what they were - but they aren't there yet, and aren't on Omega's level. Jade squashes Dani Jordan in her SECOND MATCH EVER before she talks shit to Red Velvet.  Tully says that last week, they took out the top group in AEW and 34 years ago, he was a part of the greatest group ever - and now, he'll finish it in the greatest group in wrestling.

MJF says he is Judas and he was as far back behind Jericho as his hairline is and he had to separate Sammy from Jericho - like his left pec and right pec. MJF says that Tully was right - they are The Pinnacle, and he calls Spears Double S and says they'll take the titles.

Hardy Inc. is out for a 10-man tag and he says he isn't just building a brand - he's building AN EMPIRE! Jurassic Express AND BEAR COUNTRY are teaming up. Marko forces Matt to charge in, but then Bear Country JUST CHUCKS HIM TO THE FLOOR HEAD-FIRST. Fuck, man - who needs enemies with friends like that? Dusty is looking on proudly as Luchasaurus has all heels run into his offense mid-ring to create movement for him. GIN AND JUICE TO MARKO AND MATT WANTS THE TAG! TWISTO ends it! 

Mox and Eddie are backstage and Mox says he got busted up and blown up, and now he's going to war AGAIN. He says that he doesn't like the Good Brothers - and HE WASTED HIS MONEY ON TALK-N SHOP A MANIA! King says they ain't the Bullet Club, and they aren't cowards. Christian says he's a workhorse and he makes wrestling better and makes wrestlers level-up. He is THE workhorse and he'll make you remember and he wants to be the top guy - and that's it. He'll face Kenny down the road and he's in AEW to cement his legacy and outwork everyone. This was every Christian promo ever.

Good Brothers jump the faces and Magic Killer Mox on the floor before the bell rings. King gets beaten up for a while before Kingston gets an exploder and a tag! ANDERSON SPINEBUSTER GETS 2! Spinebuster/Rocket kick hits! Mox small package on Anderson wins it. This was...fine. MOAR BRAWLING, of course. Kenny comes down and puts a chair in front of Mox, but Kingston jumps Kenny and Omega Pillmanizes Eddie's leg! Bucks come out and REFUSE TO TOO SWEET Omega and the Good Brothers. 

Sting is out with Darby and Tony and Darby says he's only defended the title three times, and now he wants to be a fighting champion. He wants to pay tribute to the best TNT Champion of all time - netting a giant BRODIE chant and he is offering up a match with the Dark Order. Archer says it's his time all the time. Jake says Darby needs to put his bun on - because he's nothing but a weenie! Jake cuts an intense promo on Darby and Sting about the winds of change. TEAM TAZ is out and Cage takes the mic and says Taz isn't going to talk for him - he respects Sting and he's still the icon. Cage is a great face, but this was out of nowhere.

A Scorpio Sky video airs and he says he isn't going to be the nice guy that finishes last. He won at Revolution, but it was just a moment for Darby, not him. He won't be a stepping stone. Fenix vs. Angelico in a Lucha Underground BATTEL! DEATH ROLL to Fenix! FENIX DRIVER ENDS IT. Fun match. Marvez chats with Miro and he says that he has moved on - but Kip says he hasn't because they hurt their wedding. Miro tells him that the worst thing for your career can be having your wife at ringside. Miro says he won't let Kip get in the way of him being World Champ - they're buds outside the ring and Kips accepts on Miro's behalf. I'm sure that will go swimmingly. 

NEGATIVE ONE STEALS THE SHOW and Johnny faces Darby next week for the TNT Title. MJF and Tully replace the Inner Circle's logo on the locker room with The Pinnacle's - good logo! Britt vs. Rosa is up and Rosa eats a crutch shot and a spear to the ramp before an Air Raid Crash! Rolling senton to a chair misses for Rosa. Jade looks on smiling as this mayhem unfolds. THUNDER STRUCK is sung! 

Britt tosses FOUR CHAIRS IN THE RING and Rosa is split open. SUPERPLEX ON THE CHAIRS! LADDER TO THE FACE OF BRITT and now she's split! FLATLINER TO THE LADDER BY BRITT! DEATH VALLEY BOMB OFF THE TOP TO THE LADDER! DDT TO THE CHAIR BY BRITT! Reba attacks, but gets thrown through a table and A POWERBOMB ON THE TACKS FOR BRITT! LOCKJAW, BUT ROSA ROLLS HER INTO THE TACKS! FIRE THUNDER DRIVER OFF THE APRON THROUGH THE TABLE AND SHE WINS IT! THIS RULED!