AEW Dynamite 4-26-23 - Cassidy vs. Bandido for the International Title

Dynamite starts off with wrestling again - with the International Title up for grabs! Ex talks about OC's dominance, but getting his hand hurt along the way. Tony brings up that his 19 defenses are the most of any men's division title in the company. Nice recap of Bandido's work in AEW as he comes out - and boy does his red and white gear look better than tonight's all-black gear. POCKETS DROPKICK BY OC! Nice smooth-flowing suplex by Bandido sends OC down hard before an overhand chop battle!

OC runs him into the buckle and Ex sells it nicely by wearing his face down for the Orange Punch. Irish whip Michinoku Driver gets 2 for OC! OC eats a gamenguri after hitting a pushing elbow suicida! One armed delayed superplex and then the lifting cutter from Bandido gets 2! Orange wins it! He puts the shades on Bandido and we've got a new buddy!

Renee chats with Adam Cole and her audio cuts out. We get some goofy comedy with OC and Bandido not realizing she was meeting with AC and not them. After a break, we get more backstage stuff with Jack and Darby and they are reluctant allies. Jeff Jarrett comes out and THEY EJECT HIS FRIENDS! FTR-Briscoes trilogy recap airs during Dax's intro - I love the usage of footage to tell tales during such a small window of time. 

Dax and Jeff have a fantastic old school Memphis match. Bit of matwork to start and man is Jeff quick for a guy 50+ with 35+ years in the ring. Nice uppercut shots and the strut is met with a GIANT Dax chop! Jeff hits a kneebreaker and wants a figure 4, but Dax reversed into a sharpshooter that Jeff avoids. Dax gets catapulted into the post and a schoolboy gets 2. Small package gets 2 for Dax! Sonjay causes a 2.9 off a suplex attempt for Dax, but the chase leads to Jeff getting the stroke and the win! Jeff celebrates with Dax's belt and that belt looks great on Jeff! 

TK announces that the Owen Hart Cup opening ceremony will be in Double or Nothing and the whole tourney will happen IN CANADA! Finals will happen in Calgary on 7/15! Wardlow's out to destroy a jobber and does so. Giant headbutt and a big goofy swing before the lariat hit! Powerbomb chain and it leads to the symphony! We get a promo from Arn telling the jobber to get a 12-pack and an ice bath. After three years in AEW, he knows what's going on and tomorrow is the NFL draft - but you need the right trade to make a dynasty, Wardlow is that dynasty! Christian and Luchasaurus come down and just walk away at the steps after staying on the ramp last week. SLOW BUILD here.  

MJF and Sammy do some goofy bullshit backstage with Sammy giving him a vest and MJF giving him a scarf after hugs and kisses! Love these two goobers! RJ City alerts us that there is both hustle AND BUSTLE here and Mox jumps him! Four pillar tourney final is up with Darby against Sammy! 

MJF is out with his new pickles and we get some amazing banter between MJF and Taz leading to Tony saying WE'RE TALKING ABOUT FREAKIN' PICKLES! Crazy timing from Sammy as Darby goes for a low-pe and SAMMY HITS A CUTTER ON THE FLOOR! Tay distracts Darby and Sammy hits a Spanish Fly for 2.9. 630 OFF THE TOP TO THE FLOOR THROUGH A TABLE ON DARBY. Absolutely perfect!

Darby avoids a countout and MJF stomps down! MJF tosses the board to Darby as the ref is distracted by Tay Melo and DARBY GETS DQED! They beat down Darby and run the DON graphic with Tony getting instructions from TK as Jack Perry runs down. Darby is still pissed and Tony is laughing his ass off at the announcement he gets to make. Tony calls MJF a prick and says that Sammy won, but there will be a tag team match with Jack and Darby against MJF and Sammy - and if the heels win, it's the advertised match but if the faces win, it's a four-way! This whole mini-tournament elevated everyone in it - even Tony and MJF with the pickles!

MJF rants backstage and gets away in an escape SUV with a driver and no one else - but he lies to Sammy and tells him it's full. Great little story beats here. Adam Cole comes down and tells him that doing what he did to Britt is something you can't go back from. Jericho doesn't come out, so he threatens to find him backstage. Jericho is backstage and talking shit. Jericho sends the boys after him before OC and Bandido save! The odds are uneven and the heels run wild until RODERICK STRONG DEBUTS AND THE MESSIAH OF THE BACKBREAKER returns and beats the shit out of them! 

QTV airs and Hobbs, like everyone else, is tired of this shit and Hobbs says THE BOOK OF HOBBS WAS WORKING FINE! QT will get him another title - it's time for Plan B! TBS Title time and boy is Taya not over here. MASSIVE intro for Jade here and the belt matches her gear perfectly. Jade pulls Taya into a split on the apron and then hits a draping GTR on the floor.

Taya avoids the pump kick and hits a superkick. JADE HITS A DESTROYER FOR 2! Taya fights out of Jaded and gets an armdrag. Big double stomp for 2! Taya wants the Road but has to stop and Jade rolls her up and beats her. Taya beats up the ref brigade! Hayter and Baker say that war has been declared and Jamie says the only way it's over is if they're in the morgue! Danielson comes out in a new BE REAL shirt for the Omega/Takeshita tag!

Danielson rants about amateurs and says that maybe RJ City got beaten up because HE'S AN AMATEUR! Butcher bowls over Kenny and Kip Arabian moonsaults him on the floor! Butcher eats a sheer drop brainbuster from Takeshita and we get a great bit where Danielson asks Taz who he'd rather have Hook train with and he says the BCC. Pump knee and the POWER DRIVE KNEE wins it for Takeshita. Danielson says that Omega looks tired and that he's living off his legacy. Danielson messes up his promo and says if Takeshita trained with the Elite instead of the BCC 

BCC attacks and THE BUCKS SAVE WITH CHAINS OF DOUBLE SUPERKICKS! Omega grabs the screwdriver and Takeshita tells him to not use it. BCC shoves the faces together and the Death Rider hits Omega! The BCC feigns a celebration with him and he declines so they low blow AND SPIKE HIM WITH THE SCREWDRIVER! What a fantastic show story-wise - AEW benefits a lot from making their wrestlers feel more like real people than WWE does and it makes long-term storytelling so much easier and more effective.

AEW Dynamite 4-19-23 - Komander vs. Jay White

It's an international battle as Jay White and Komander face off in a match that could only happen in AEW. Hobbs vs. Wardlow is also on tap for the TNT Title while the Outcasts face Britt and Hayter in Brittsburgh! Jack Perry comes down to start the show with a promo and they smartly show the fans going crazy for him and waving their hands for his theme - which makes it so easy to want to go there live.

Darby interrupts Sammy and says that he likes him the most, and while some view Sammy as the least important person in this match. He and Sting are equals while Jericho and Sammy aren't - it isn't the Sting Appreciation Society. He says that Jack was part of the Cali clique and when he was signed, he was homeless living in his car and he was jealous of him - but it went away when he saw what he was all about. Nothing intimidated him. Jack says he's only here because he didn't make it as a skateboarder and Sammy just chills in the corner. Jack respects Sammy the most out of all of the pillars - because with Sammy, what you see is what you get!

Sammy talks about being at DoN 2019 and being on the pre-show and watching the show from the balcony and MJF and Jungle Boy were on the last PPV, and he relates to Darby because they're overlooked and two sides to the same coin. Sammy said that Darby gave him hope because he was the first pillar to win a title. MJF announces the pillars tournament and the winner faces him at DON. Darby gets a bye, making Sammy vs. Jack TONIGHT PLAYA!

Women's tag is up and Britt is over! Heels rush the faces and Jamie corner back charges the heels TWICE and then double suplexes them from a DDT position! She eats a basement superkick on the apron from Ruby before the hip attack from Toni! Britt tags in and runs wild with a corner neckbreaker. Jamie lands a sliding lariat for 2.9 for Britt! Deadly Night Shade by Ruby and then a hip attack to Britt! BELT SHOT AND STORM ZERO GET 2.9!  

Britt gets 2.9 off of...a Panama Sunrise-ish thing. Lockjaw gets the tapout win on Ruby Soho! Wardlow comes in and gets COACH ARN and he says that Tully helped him play checkers better than anyone, but he plays chess! Elite comes out and Omega says he's having trouble sleeping and then Danielson says THEY'RE AMATEURS and the BCC attacks! Massive brawl ensues! Anarchy at the Arena II between The Elite and BCC?! Yuta goes for Matt's bicep but Nick saves! 

Death Rider and Danielson comes down and rants about AMATEURS - and he's most disappointed in Kenny because he thought he'd be a professional! Don Callis comes down with a chair and then goes to the back. PLEASEGETTAKESHITA! YES! HE MAKES THE SAVE! Takeshita for ROH Champ! 

Wardlow comes out in the least-flattering singlet in history with Arn in tow. Hobbs' presentation is excellent and he's got purple, gold and black gear on. TRIO OF BELLY TO BELLYS BY HOBBS! Walk and brawl? Is this for the TNT or TNT Title? Big headbutt and GIANT lariat hits! QT hits a cutter and the spinebuster gets 2.9. ARN HITS THE GLOCK ON QT who runs out and eats a superkick and then A DOUBLE A DDT! POWERBOMB SYMPHONY!

Wardlow wins it and Christian comes down for a staredown with Luchasaurus by his side. Okay then. Sammy is backstage and MJF does racist bullshit. MJF offers him a guaranteed shot in the DON main event - he just has to lay down! He offers him a blank check and Max AGREES! Tremendous facials here. Jay White vs. Komander is up and Komander has a banger theme.

Spears is shown in the front row. Komander with the buggy collision detection rana! White hits an apron gordbuster. MASSIVE lariat hits after a few chop exchanges. ROPEWALK MOONSAULT TO HTE FLOOR AND THEN THE ROPEWALK SSP HITS! Springboard phoenix splash gets 2.9! Wacky lucha submission meats the cutthroat suplex and the blade runner ends it! This was not amazing - but a fantastic showcase of both guys overall.

Juice jumps Spears for not giving him a ten before STARKS SAVES! Spear to Juice! Renee chats with FTR about Mark being jumped and then FTR runs to medical and FTR finds the Lethal heel group and puts them all together. Lethal will do it for his friend. Okay this is all weird. DEODORANT AD DURING WRESTLING! Jericho-Cole face to face time. Cole calls out Jericho for having the JAS win for him and he wonders who the real Jericho is - the one who uses them or THE FICKLE STUPID IDIOT! Jericho tells him to get out of the ring that HE built now. They fight and Britt slaps Jericho, leading to the Outcats jumping her! THEN THEY tease a beating on him only to cane her! 

Hardys- Firm Deletion match is hyped up and Jeff addresses the crowd on Rampage. Daddy Magic, Hager, and Ange's Miami Vice theme is so great! Oh and this has a stip where if the faces lose, they have to join the JAS! For three weeks! Scissor Me Timbers! Gunn tells Hager to suck his dick and then Hager turns the fameasser into the GIANT double leg! Loaded comb shot gets 2 and then Daddy Ass breaks the comb and the mic drop ends it. Daddy Ass was the highlight for the faces here.

Main event time and Sammy takes out Jack with a corkscrew dive! Over the top rana by Jack! Jack goes for an apron dive and eats a rising knee before Sammy hits a C4 OFF THE APRON! Sammy crotches him up top! Sammy SSP gets rolled out and he lands a superkick and a top rope Cody cutter gets 2! Dominator to a spike DDT gets 2.9! GTH countered into the poison rana! Sammy sends him sailing into the nearby table hard as hell! MJF hits Jack with the ring and SAMMY WINS BY COUNTOUT!

MJF and Sammy bow to one another after MJF hugs him and Darby looks on angrily. Good story work here - they're setting up Sammy as a babyface in this down the road.

AEW Dynamite 4-12-23 - Mox and Claudio against Nakazawa and Cutler

This isn't a killer's row show, but the card looks solid and has Jericho vs. Ketith Lee as well. Buddy faces OC for the International Title and that will probably be the workrate match of the night. Darby vs. Swerve starts the show off strong. Instant stundog and barrel roll low-pe hit! Audio mix seems off - commentators seem really low compared to the music. Crowd can't be heard at all. 

Swerve snaps him on the steps and then DRAGS HIM DOWN THE STEPS! We see Sammy check the match on an iPad watching this with Tay as humans would watch TV and not at a 90 degree angle. Swerve chokes Darby with his own chain belt! Rolling thunder flatliner by Swerve! Darby ties him to a tree of woe and Darby BITES THE FOOT! 

POISON RANA OFF THE APRON AND THE COFFIN DROP HITS, but Prince Nana puts Swerve's foot on the rope! Swerve uses a distraction to hit the delayed kick and the SWERVE STOMP HITS FOR 2.9 - he couldn't cover right away due to the foot injury! Cage trips Darby and Aubrey sees him down and throws them out! CODE RED GETS 2.9! LAST SUPPER ENDS IT! These two are unreal together! MJF comes out! 

MJF is out in the most blue suit on Earth and says that he's going to beat him again with a HEADLOCK TAKEOVER! He buries MIDWAUKEE and says that he's not on the level of the devil! Darby asks him if he's happy - literally, if anything in his life ever made him happy. Darby says that he knew it wasn't true for him, so he got into therapy and used his AEW money to help his dad retire and this is just a 15 minute ride. MJF says that he may not go to heaven and he doesn't give a shit because IF THE TITLE IS WITH HIM, THAT'S ALL THAT MATTERS! He's willing to do whatever it takes - but not Darby and the other two pillars. 

MJF calls Darby Sting's bitch and IT'S STING is here! Sting whacks him with pom-poms and Sting says that Flair put him on the map and Cody YEAH CODY did that for MJF, while Sting did that for Darby. He throws love towards the Wolfpac and sends love to heaven for Hall and he's a bit of a Joker too! Sting says he doesn't have a thirst for the World Title - showtime is ALMOST over for him, but it's just starting for Darby. Now THAT was a near-perfect first quarter of a show. Very compelling stuff and everything flowed nicely into the next piece.

Hobbs is out to face Silas Young, who gets a jobber intro. They show Hobbs and his new classic car that was a gift from QT. I don't like that car's future! House Business/Shock Treatment ends it quick! Wardlow shows up with a pipe to destroy the car! Then he forklifts it and tips it over before Hobbs take out Silas, but Wardlow comes out and takes out Solo with a powerbomb off the stage through a table! This was all fantastic!

Switchblade and Juice are in a VTR and announce Bullet Club Gold! Buddy Matthews has the most generic myspace butt rock imaginable. They start off strong and OC hits a satellite DDT and the Orange Punch - but he goes down right away! They tease a doctor stoppage before Buddy stomps on the hand! Buddy hits a big knee, but eats a beach break on the apron! Double countout teased with them running in at 9.5! 

Buddy hits some OC kicks and then that fires him up and he eats a kamigoye before landing a stundog! OC hits a trio of DDTs on the floor for 2.9!  V trigger hits, but Murphy's Law is countered into a cradle for 2.5. THE ORANGE PUNCH HITS FOR 2.9! CHOKESLAM GTS BY MURPHY!? OC goes down and HE PLAYS POSSUM! MOUSE TRAP WINS IT! What an incredible first hour! Christian and Luchasaurus cut a promo from the Hue smart light portion of the building. 

Renee demands a medical update MINUTES after the match!? The Best Friends demand that Aussie Open fight them on Rampage. Ethan Page is out in his Shein getup complaining about everything - he hasn't been able to tan or get his haircut! Matt still works for him and HE WANTS TO KNOW WHAT WAS PUT IN THE CONTRACT! Isaih and Matt come out and have such great chemistry. Matt took them out of the Firm with the contract and has made a stipulation - to free them from the Firm...so that's not what they just did? BIG BILL attacks!  

HOOK saves! He chucks Lee and tosses Page! BIG T-BONE TEASED BY HOOK but Page jumps him! JEFF HARDY returns and runs wild with a chair, twist of stunning fate and the swanton! He looked great! He looked really heavy and old in recent shots, but he's shaved, lost some weight and maybe popped some hair dye on.

Kenny talks about the BCC taking them out - but to take out Don!? He's not the most likeable guy - but he's still family! BCC is out first and this DELAYS THEIR ABILITY TO DESTROY GEEKS and this doesn't bode well. They're just pacing during the break waiting for asses to kick and then they arrive and do! Nakazawa eats a huge beating and the giant swing leads to MOX MARCHING and hopping IN JOY ON THE APRON!

Double juice from the faces and Mox bites the nose of Cutler. KING KONG LARIAT HITS! DEATH RIDER END IT...NO the bulldog choke by NAK MAKES A SAVE. NO YOU FOOL! Stomps to the end causes the ref to stop it and the Neutralizer hits Nakazawa! Mox says that they put the elite in All Elite Wrestling before OMEGA COMES OUT! 

YOUNG BUCKS JUMP THEM AND WOW IS THAT A LOT OF SHOULDER TAPE! It's amazing what Nick can do with a bad arm. BTE TRIGGER HITS MOXLEY! Omega gets a gear case and teases a hit on Mox, but Matt gives him a flathead screwdriver! He goes for it but Mox moves and it hits the buckle and makes a great visual getting stuck. 

Skye Blue and Riho are out to face The Outcasts' Toni Storm and Ruby Soho. Skye gets worked over by Toni before they tag out and Riho flies around for Ruby. Riho dive onto the heels leads to Ruby getting tossed in for a break. Double heel corner choke shows off some booty. Apron PKs and superkicks from Skye Blue lead to a superkick to Ruby into crucifix bomb from Riho! Heels win it after Storm Zero and they beat down Riho leading to a DMD chant. SHIELD BOMB to Riho! Britt comes out in a 2002 throwback outfit and leads the charge for the faces!

Jericho's out for the TV main event - which is a better role than him being in a PPV main event. They have a neat overhead cam for him too. Lee stomps out looking badass and then eats a bunch of chops before bear-chopping Jericho and KISSING HIM ON THE HEAD. Tremendous! Lee goes for a Vader bomb, but Garcia prevents it and Lee is sent out with a triangle dropkick. 

Jericho slugs away, but eats a big lariat on the rebound. Walls, but Lee gets the rope! Lee chucks Garcia in! Codebreaker is avoided and countered into the sitout last ride! Garcia distracts Aubrey before Swerve in a mask KOs Lee! Jericho wins via bullshit - but he's oddly kinda innocent in this one instance. ADAM COLE BAYBAY makes a save for Lee! He looks on disaprovingly at Jericho!