AEW Dynamite and Rampage 3-20-24 - Cope vs. Cage III

 

Rampage is on after Dynamite, which is a loaded lineup. We see Cope and Cage walk in before Kingston and Okada. Tony is mid-ring and brings out Mercedes. She cuts the same promo as last week, but goes into more history with Willow. The lights go out and Julia and Skye come in, but Willow and Kris save. Okada meets with Alex Marvez and they demand that he speaks to Okada in Japanese. Nice recap of everything with Renee in front of the ring after Okada comes out looking so cool.

Okada DDT on the floor gets a bunch of replays as per the Jacksons' request. Kingston takes some disrespectful kicks and lands a ton of sick chops. Kingston lands a giant lariat for 2. Kneeling chops and headbutts! DISCUS LARIAT HITS FOR OKADA! Kingston partially blocked it though! Inoki enzuiguri hits for Kingston, but THE LANDSLIDE HITS! RAINMAKER ENDS IT AND OKADA IS THE NEW CONTINENTAL CROWN CHAMPION! THE BASTARD PAC IS HERE! He wanted competition and he'll get it! 

Backstage, Swerve chats with Renee. Willow talks about being in more street fights than anyone else in AEW after tonight. Kris thanks Mercedes for the save last week. THE HOOK SIGNAL is here and then Jericho is out after him with an ill-fitting Seagal-esque jacket. Jericho eats a beating and then goes up for an axehandle to meet a northern lights release. REDRUM IS ON but Jericho breaks the grip. Cradle off the walls gets the win. This went on too long. Cole buries Wardlow for losing and looks a decade younger with a shaved face instead of a grey beard.

Renee chats with Jericho about earning Jericho's respect and he wants to say something to him next week. Ospreay comes out and apologizes for being a prick before but says he needs some maple syrup! He says Danielson said he couldn't walk in his shoes and he did more than Danielson ever did in Japan. He wants Shibata and now he's got a mortgage to pay, a kid to raise, cats and dogs and a point to prove! HE WANTS SHIBATA NEXT WEEK! 

Mariah May and Toni Storm face off with Rosa and Deonna. Rosa half-speeds it up for a bit. Hip attack in the corner, but Toni's piledriver meets a jackknife cradle and that ends it. Swerve is out and we get Swerve versus THE BUTCHER! Now I was tired, but this is slick! Swerve busts out a BICEP POSE ALONGSIDE THE SHORTARM SCISSOR! Swerve wants to hang Joe with his chain! Joe warns him about wanting to box with a god and having that belief makes the fans believe, but they can't be champion and neither can you!

DON CALLS INTERRUPTS!? And he's so hated, he can barely be heard in his home country. Swerve has the same amount of wins as Takeshita and now he wants that match! Cope comes out in Toronto Maple Leaf gear and looks killer! Cope lands a baseball slide and Taz calls him Edge and then just says well it had to happen! Cope puts a Bruins jersey on Cage and beats his ass in Maple Leafs jersey. Cope makes an announce table ladder bridge. Ladder hinge to the balls by Cope! Very odd video game street fight vibe here for the blood feud - but it's a lot of fun. 

Cage dives onto Cope through a table! Frog splash misses, and Cope locks on the crossface - but Cage doesn't quit. Cope slams him on a hockey net. Shayna ballshots Cope with a hockey stick and Cage busts it over his back. Barb wire chair conchairto misses for Cage, who wants a killswitch on the barb wire chair and Cope goes for it. Cope goes for a stick assist, but can't hear a tap so he uses his drawstring like a gourot and the goons arrive. 

Menard and Garcia save! Wayne gets tossed over and he clips Killswitch with his foot! Cope dives on the pile off a ladder! The goons are cuffed and Cage eats punches and a spear! They tie him up in the corner and he goes for SPIKE! Cope hits a billion ball shots and spike to the balls, but Cage doesn't quit until he raises it overhead!

AEW Dynamite 3-13-24 - Big Business in Bos$$ton

AEW is debuting a new big TV show name with this one, likely celebrating Mercedes Mone's official debut in the company - not counting her being in the crowd at ALL IN 2023. We start off with Renee hyping up the show and a Mercedes Benz MAYBACH arrives! AND THE CEO IS HERE ON THE RAMP with a new theme that is a giant upgrade from her NJPW one. The CEO chant is massive here too! She says she can't wait to tear it up with everyone in this division after talking about her history in Boston and calls out Willow - BUT NOW it's MERCEDES MONE AND SHE'S ALL ELITE!

Joe threatens Wardlow and says he is once again sent by lesser men to pay for crimes he didn't commit. We get epic music alongside STORY TIME WITH ADAM COLE, literally telling the tale of Wardlow being held back and now being unleashed. The World title starts things off and Wardlow jumps him quickly. Joe built himself up so much since ALL IN and has transferred a lot of that onto Wardlow here.

They bring up Warjoe, which I have no memory of. GIANT whisper in the wind by Wardlow! WARDLOW FAKED OUT THE FAKEOUT! They're doing a great job making Wardlow feel like he could win it. Shouldertackle gets 2. Wardlow fakes out a knee injury and gouges the eyes! Corner knee strike hits for 2.9! Joe gets corner punches and a walking powerbomb! Joe gets the choke and wins it before Swerve comes out pissed with a chain! Marvez talks to the Bucks and wants to know why Okada joined them before he's told to call him HIS FULL PASSPORT NAME - THE RAINMAKER KAZUCHIKA OKADA! Okada demands he sing happy birthday to Matthew and he does! 

Cocky Elite vs. Pac, Penta, and Kingston are up and Okada works so great with Kingston - and that will work out even better when Okada wins the Continental Crown. Ballshot and the rainmaker end it. Okada lifts the Continental Belt up high  OH MY GOD CHAMPION DICKHEAD OKADA IS GOING TO BE GREAT!

Tony hypes up AEW Dynasty with Danielson against Ospreay! He gets a BRUV chant and hypes up Danielson as a man who did everything he could to entertain people no matter how many people were there and Danielson demanded that he face him to prove who the best is. "RESTORE THE FEELING! BRUV I AM THE FEELING!" YOU PUT THE BEST WRESTLER IN THE WORLD AGAINST THE BEST OF THE 20TH CENTURY AND ONLY 1 WALKS OUT THE WINNER! Goddamn what a great promo!

Deonna talks to Toni and says she wants a tag match. "The shoe is headed right up your ass!" - I think she'd like that. Bullet Club Gold is out for White vs. Darby and the goons are sent to the back. Darby's out with a revamped look using the bat and more Sting-like paint. Darby eats some corner offense and some nasty chops before sending White to the floor and landing a standing swanton. 

Big basement crossbody hits before a coffin splash! Ospreay goes for a coffin drop on the apron and White moves and Darby MISSES THE APRON. Jesus what a bump and White ends it easily afterwards. Blade Runner ends it! Darby goes for a handshake and Jay GIVES HIM THE GUN TO THE FACE and the Gunns jump him! 

They go to Pillmanize the leg with the bat before The Acclaimed come out and save Darby before JAY CHAIRSHOTS BILLY AND THE BANG BANG SCISSOR POWERS EXPLODE! Excellent stuff here to further the story. Pillmanizing with the bat! Good - they needed a killer edge again. LionHook vs. Gates of Agony is up and Jericho is looking Seagal-esque with this ill-fitting jacket. They finish off this nothing of a match with a Liontamer/Redrum tapout looking...weird.

Willow is hyped up as taking out Mone before Riho chats with Mone! Riho goes for flippy armdrags but WILLOW IS TOO BIG TO MOVE FOR THEM and it's perfect. DOCTOR BOMB HITS! GOOD LORD THAT RULED. The world needs more Willow vs. Riho matches! Julia and Skye Blue attack Willow! Mercedes slugs Skye and stares down Julia before laying her out with the wacky Gori DDT. 

Kingston vs. Okada is ON DYNAMITE NEXT WEEK!? Jeez between that and Cope-Cage III, that is loaded!

AEW Dynamite 3-6-24 - New Season Presentation

 

Ospreay vs. Fletcher is up and official for tonight and there are rumors that Okada is debuting as an AEW roster member here as well! Tony is mid-ring to chat with Swerve, and the new graphics are killer. Swerve talks about how he didn't win it and it feels like Swerve's House without the keys and maybe he didn't deserve it - he's done a lot of bad things. He's going on a great redemption arc here and he says he wants Joe again with or without that belt. 

Joe rubs the belt with his towel and says that it may be your house, but it's in my world! Swerve wants this shit tonight and then the Undisputed Kingdom is out. Cole talks shit and Swerve fights back. "The whole Dr. Claw role is working for me and if you need some clients, I got Britt's second phone number in my pocket..." Joe and Swerve will face Taven and Bennett now. Tony - There's nothing like shoving it up the rear end of Adam Cole! Taz - Well whateva floats ya boat!

Joe's walk off on a dropkick leads to it hitting Taven! Swerve lands an apron PK to Taven and a rolling flatliner to Bennett! SWERVE STOMP TO BENNETT and he stares at Joe. House call to Taven! JML Driver ends it. DAMN THIS WAS A SHOWCASE for Swerve. Wardlow walks to the ring and Joe chokes out Swerve. 

Next week, Joe vs. Wardlow is up for the title. Hook vs. Brian Cage is hyped up and it's for the FTW Title next. The Bucks troll TK announcements by saying they'll do it later in the ring with big dopey smiles. Brian Cage is out in a King cosplay outfit and looks fantastic. Plunder and weapons after a suplex over the top by Cage. Cage misses a barricade charge and goes through. 

Exploder hits for Hook, but Cage gets a powerbomb into an F5 and a cocky cover gets 2. Cage gets a bag of tacks out and a Redrum sends Hook into a corner chair. EXPLODER TO CAGE INTO THE TACKS! REDRUM IS ON AND CAGE SENDS HIM INTO TACKS but he hangs on and wins it! Gates of Agony jump him before Jericho comes out. Tag title tourney is hyped up with clips that feel like 20 years ago. 

Killswitch is out with the Patriarchy to face Daddy Magic. Rabbit lariat gets the KO and ends it after a second one. WAYNE'S WORLD leads to an an "I LOVE YOU NICK" by Christian. COPELAND RUNS WILD AND RNCS WAYNE! Cage runs and steals a car before Cope says it's Cope-Cage III in Toronto in an I Quit match! KOR says he's clear, didn't know he would be and has to go it alone. Nice recap of Revolution's main event really made that into a must-buy show.

The video plays right into the EVPs the Bucks coming out via the Codyvator and getting all the pyro. They announce the tourney and put themselves in the tourney. Hangman gets suspended. Sad they aren't fining him 2% of his purse. Kenny is fired for no-showing. Kingston comes out and Matthew kindly requests that Kingston take things to the back before he low-blows Kingston.  OKADA COMES OUT TO SAVE KINGSTON! 

OKADA SWERVES KINGSTON AND HITS A RAINMAKER TO KINGSTON! He replaces Omega in the Elite! Okay, so do you do Kingston vs. Okada for the C2 on Dynamite or the April PPV? Either way, we could be getting Okada vs. Omega for the C2 at WK one day! Takeshita vs. Ospreay is hyped up with a killer video package. Stat vs. Riho is up and Kris goes for a somersault senton but gets it turned into a crucifix for 2. Stat turns a sunset flip into a chokebomb and a big suplex while Stokely looks on evilly!

Stat eats a corner charge, and a dragon suplex gets 2 after Riho avoids a pop-up powerbomb. High stack powerbomb from Kris gets 2! Stokely throws a chain in to Stat Kris tosses it away and lands a wheelbarrow German. Tight victory roll off a second one gets the win for Riho! This was one of the best women's matches on TV in AEW history. Backstage, Toni Storm meets with Renee and announces the Toni awards - THAT'S TONI WITH AN I SO WE DON'T GET SUED and doesn't like Mariah May doing the shoes line. Willow faces Riho next week.

Darby comes out with the belt and a tattered shirt and he's with Tony, who asks what it'll be like without Sting. He says five years ago, he was homeless in Atlanta and on Sunday, he main evented Sting's retirement match on PPV. The bat lives on with Darby carrying it and he's facing Switchblade and in a few weeks, he's leaving Everest. There's no guarantee he's coming back alive from that. He thanks every fan and AEW for giving him this dream. If next week is his last match, he'll go out fighting! He throws the belt down and the Bang Bang Gang comes out in white 

Jay White calls him stupid and says you don't have to get in the ring with him - and no one would think any less of him for not facing him after that match. He wants to preserve Darby and instead of a match, you can hang with the Bang Bang Scissor Gang! Darby does the bat to the throat bit and it's good to see him get a physical menace to him. Backstage, Julia issues an open challenge for Rampage while Skye looks on moody. House of Black cuts a promo on Mark Briscoe for Collision. Mark says that he can do it on his own but Jay Lethal says he loves him and he's by his side - and if you can't trust Jeff Jarrett, trust me!

Ospreay vs. Fletcher is up and Ospreay OSPREAY! is over huge and Ospreay will do anything to get Fletcher over. Callis wants Fletcher to go after the kidney area but Fletcher lands a corner gemenguri and a sheer drop brainbuster gets 2! Fletcher lands a pair of hard chops and they clasp hands for more back and forth chops! Ospreay opens the door for a chop and Fletcher lands a superkick instead! 

Discus elbow and the back heel kick hits for Ospreay! Fletcher catches a rana and teases a Styles Clash, but it gets turned into a DDT! LAWN DART BY FLETCHER! HOOK KICK ON THE APRON AND OSCUTTER ON THE APRON AND HE LANDS RIGHT ON HIS ASS! During the break, Fletcher lands some killer forearms right to the jaw! 

Fletcher tombstoned turned right into a poison rana! He goes up top, but Fletcher shoves him down! AVALANCHE DRAGON SUPLEX BY FLETCHER BUT OSPREAY FLIPS OUT! Ospreay Liger bomb gets 2! BUZZSAW KICK AND A KNEELING SUPERKICK! Fletcher avoids a Stormbreaker and lands a Tiger driver of his own! SITOUT LAST RIDE GETS 2.9 FOR FLETCHER! Corner high kick by Fletcher before a corner brainbuster by Fletcher is met by a head trap superkick and a massive hidden blade for 2.9!

Ospreay avoids a few things, lands the Spanish fly and an I'M SORRY I LOVE YOU BRUV HIDDEN BLADE ENDS IT! Ospreay wins a classic and DANIELSON COMES OUT - OH MY GOD THIS OSPREAY RUN IS GOING TO BE INCREDIBLE! Ospreay vs. Danielson at Big Business! 

AEW Revolution Op-Ed

 

Best Match - Ospreay vs. Takeshita/Sting and Darby vs. Young Bucks

Worst Match - All-Star Scramble

Sting had the greatest final match anyone could ever ask for in every way and he used it to pay homage to just about anyone he physically could. Flair and Steamboat got moments to shine in the Carolinas one last time, nearly 50 years from their first go-arounds in the territory.  Darby got moments to shine and the Bucks, EVPs who will be there tomorrow, lost. Sting could have been a Hulk Hogan, who pouted when asked to do anything that made him look weak over 30 years. 

Or HHH, who pouted at anything making him look weak over 20 years but he was selfless even on his last night. Mere weeks after his father died, he turned the match into a celebration of the Borden family as a whole giving his sons a chance to shine right alongside him on the stage and in the ring - giving their grandfather a chance to see them all from the best seat in the house.

Takeshita vs. Ospreay was the technical match of the might and terrifying in different ways thanks to the corner brainbuster gone awry, but nothing topped the emotion of every single cover on Sting in the main event. The double superkick callback to Forbidden Door was perfect and played into Sting having one last chest-beating comeback and it's kind of crazy that even in just three short years, he did so much new stuff and tried so many new things that this run feels longer and more impactful than it was in theory. 

The drama of the main event was impossible to touch for any match on the card, but both Danielson vs. Kingston and Takeshita vs. Ospreay were outstanding, with the latter outpacing the former a bit. The former was a better storytelling match, while the latter was among the best matches Will Ospreay has had in a 12 month period more full of fantastic matches than any time I can recall. Danielson vs. Kingston almost felt like the start of a new team for Danielson to split off from Claudio and Moxley with or just add Kingston to the mix since he has history with everyone else in the group anyway and he's gone to war with all of them in AEW.

The women's title match never got much in the way of drama behind it, and the same held true for FTR vs. the BCC, which had great entrances but was in first gear forever. It's a shame Tully Blanchard couldn't get out of his own way again because if he'd still been with the company and come out with FTR, that would have been a nice moment that could have helped FTR feel on-par with the BCC entrance-wise. The all-star scramble was disjointed and hurt by sloppiness and Dante Martin having a few things go awry in a very short period, but was a clear sign of way too many guys in a single match to really make a good match. 

The triple threat World title match was a far more focused story-heavy multi-man match and in the upper-echelon of matches on the show, but didn't quite reach the heights of  Danielson/Kingston, the tag title match, or Ospreay/Takeshita. They told a few stories in the mach with Hangman doing everything he could to prevent Swerve from winning - including being willing to lose just so Swerve didn't have a chance to win. It told a four-star story tonight to maybe tell another five-star story later - so that's fine.

The TNT Title match was a good choice for an opener and I think it worked to the match's advantage because the crowd was hotter for it than they would have been if you switch this and Danileson/Kingston around in the match order. Garcia shined brighter here than he has yet in a singles match and his new gear really helps him look like a star instead of just a gimmick - although the dancing gimmick does hurt him a bit in terms of it overshadowing how great a worker he is between the ropes.

Similarly, Roderick Strong vs. Orange Cassidy was a good match in a lot of ways that felt like it was lacking something. It could have been hurt by having the heels have folks out there and OC not, but it never felt as dramatic as it should have been until the beach break using the ropes - then it clicked a bit. Kyle O'Reilly's return was a nice surprise and they're definitely playing up that he is Roddy's friend forever, but may not be down with the Undisputed Kingdom and then you have Roddy and Kyle in a battle of what's more important - friendship with KOR or the Kingdom/the title.

As a show, Revolution was certainly an all-time great from a company that puts on incredible events regularly. This was the first AEW PPV I've purchased live since Forbidden Door 2022 and this was $50 well-spent for the sheer amount of emotion it brought out of me and how fun it made pro wrestling. In a year with so much turmoil and so much horrific activity being exposed, it was nice to have an event where I don't feel dirty watching it and I can just enjoy a 64 year old man going out on his shield in victory with his two sons cheering him on and know that there are great human beings in pro wrestling - and some are even great promoters too.

Tony Khan allowed Sting to go out on his terms and whether Sting wanted to or not, he made sure he retired a champion. He allowed Will Ospreay to be under his contract and not only do several dates with TNA, but lose on their stage after having him go over on his own biggest stage at All In. Like Sting and Terry Funk, he's unselfish in selfish times and while they were a credit to pro wrestling as legends in the ring, the work he has done to celebrate wrestling history and treats its legend with respect is something that all companies can benefit from. 

Presser 

Toni Storm - We should start these even later so we can all have breakfast!
Renee - How are you feeling?
Toni - SHIT, RENEE! IF YOU MUST!

Toni - I would like to thank Mr. Tazmaniac and Sean "Excalibur" Mooney! Deonna, I hope you go back to Impact.

Toni - I'm tired of all the cryptic hints! Wendi Richter, I'M GOING TO FUCK YOU UP AND FOR EVERYONE ELSE WHO WANTS A SHOT - FUCK OFF THERE'S A RANKING SYSTEM!