(Promotion: All Elite Wrestling – Announcers: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone & Excalibur – Venue: Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, PA – October 16, 2019)

Last week on AEW Dynamite: CLICK HERE

Main Card Results

-AEW World Tag Team Championship Tournament (Round 1): SoCal Uncensored (Scorpio Sky & Frankie Kazarian) defeated Best Friends (Chuck Taylor and Trent Barretta) to advance in the tournament.

-Santana & Ortiz defeated Jon Silver & Alex Reynolds.

-Hype video aired focusing on Cody Rhodes chase of the AEW World Championship.

–AEW Women’s World Championship: Riho (c) defeated Britt Baker to retain.

–AEW World Tag Team Championship Tournament (Round 1): The Lucha Bros. (Pentagon Jr. & Fenix) defeated Jurassic Express (Jack Perry & Marko Stunt) to advance in the tourney. Marko Stunt replaced an injured Luchasaurus.



–Kenny Omega & Hangman Page defeated Jon Moxley & PAC.

–AEW World Championship: Chris Jericho (c) defeated Darby Allin in a Philadelphia Street Fight.

Observations

-The Lucha Bros. jump SCU during the Californian’s ring entrance. Christopher Daniels is package piledriven on the steel ramp. Scorpio Sky is out for the save. Daniels stretchered from the ring as Sky volunteers to substitute in the bout.

-Well, the company is sticking with win/loss records as they are once again flashed on the bottom screen during entrances.

-Announcers remind viewers that the Best Friends have defeated this duo at FyterFest.

-The Best Friends hit an assisted superplex on Kazarian.

-Audience: “This is awesome!” and “S-C-U!”

-SCU win after Sky pins Barretta following a powerbomb/dropkick combo.

-Sky has never been a favorite of mine but he came across quite the hero this week. Is AEW looking to position him as the Kofi Kingston of the trio?

-Return from commercial and Santana & Ortiz are on their way to the ring. It’s a good time to note that not only their theme but also the Best Friends and Darby Allin’s theme are straight bangers. I need to look in to see who is overseeing their music.

“If I wasn’t proud than I wouldn’t be powerful…” —Theme song (Santana & Ortiz)

-Santana & Ortiz go over after hitting the “Street Sweeper” for a quick pinfall. This was a neat and tidy squash match. Both teams perfectly played their roles.

-Chris Jericho appears on the video screen while Santana & Ortiz are on the ramp. He announces that the duo wants to face the Young Bucks on Nov. 9 at Full Gear.

-A vignette airs focusing on Cody Rhodes’ pursuit of the AEW title. It first shows him distracted at home and then lifting weights at the gym and sparring. Interspersed are segments featuring Brandi Rhodes, DDP, MJF and his mother, who are commenting on his drive and dedication.

This is a tremendously well-produced and effective video. It feels similar to a package produced for a major boxing match. It not only sets the stage but builds curiosity in the viewer. It’s a really excellent piece of business.

“Do not cover up my black eye…” –JR reporting what Britt Baker said to the AEW make-up artist

-This was the first AEW Women’s World Championship defense.

-The grappling between Baker and Riho feels clunky. They are now standing on the second rope and feel…lost. Perhaps language is a barrier?

-Riho’s flexibility is bonkers. For her diminutive stature, she is particularly scrappy, too.

-Baker hit a nasty swinging Fisherman’s neckbreaker.

-Baker transitions from a Ripcord lariat into a crossface and attempts to sink in the “Lockjaw.” However, Riho is too saavy and stubborn to open her mouth. The champion rolls up Baker for the pinfall. Riho’s experience comes into play to give her the victory. Plus, it is far too early in the game to swap the title.

-The Lucha Bros. defeated Jurassic Express in yet another squash. The Latino duo really had to dumb down their work to allow Marko Stunt, who was working as a replacement for the Luchasaurus. Nothing against the kid, but he doesn’t not belong on national television at this time. It’s not just the physicality that’s an issue, but his maturity as a performer seems to be in question as well. Pentagon is arguably one of the most dangerous professional wrestlers in the world and Stunt is swinging his arms and dancing like a child. Can’t he at least sorta pretend it’s a fight? To be fair, Jack Perry looked ok as he is a bit bigger and a bit stronger and more focused. As it was, it felt like the Lucha Bros. were running in chest-deep water.

-Jon Moxley/PAC v. Kenny Omega/Hangman Page. This is gonna be a heater. There is a pretaped interview of Moxley who declares allegiance to no one and declares his spot in the food chain. He warns all concerned not to write him off because of the injury that sidelined him at the end of summer.

-Omega gets a huge ovation as Moxley is prone on one knee in the ring, beckoning his opponent to the ring with an extended finger. Mox is so cool and unflappable.

-The announcers point out that it’s The Cleaner’s birthday.

-Announcers reveal that Remsburg is a Temple grad.

-Jezusssss, Omega’s chops are wicked.

-That lariat that Page hit Mox with… (In the words of Ron Simmons…DAMN!)

-Page hit a nice, clean moonsault to the floor.

-Audience: “A-E-W!”

-Everything PAC executes has teeth to it. (Ex: a cutter to Omega.) He is fierce and nasty. Definite shades of Dynamite Kid in his work.

-Mox & Omega are head-to-head: CHILLS. The two unload upon one another. Mox turned Omega inside out/upside down. Omega gets his hardcore broom!! Mox retrieved his barbed-wire bat. PAC unarms both of their weapons because he didn’t want to risk disqualification. Mox flips him off, DDTs him, and walks out on his partner.

-PAC cut himself on the wire. His hand is dripping blood on the canvas.

-Omega hits the V-Trigger and Page scores with the Deadeye to pin PAC. This was really good stuff. The interactions were intense. PAC v. Mox is announced for next week in Pittsburgh.

-AEW World Championship: Chris Jericho (c) v. Darby Allin.

-Chills for Jericho’s interview. Ya know, wrestling fans really do owe a debt to Chris Jericho. As great as the overall organization and roster of AEW is, it takes a major star to take the risk and sprinkle his magic dust on the company overall. It’s similar to when Jack Benny jumped ship from radio to television or Howard Stern’s move from terrestrial to satellite radio.

-Great up-close shot of the champ’s grizzled face. Directorial touches like that add gravity to matches.

-Allin has “champ” written all over the left side of his face, torso and arms.

-This is going to be a “Philadelphia Street Fight,” meaning that it is basically no disqualification. However, rope breaks and submissions are still in play.

-Early on, the two brawl in and out of the ring.

-The fans chant for Allin.

-The announcers point out that it is Jericho’s 29th anniversary in the business is coming up.

-Allin bangs his knee and is down as the show heads into a commercial break. Upon return, he is working over the champ with a kendo stick. He goes for a Fujiwara armbar.

-The challenger reverses an armbar into a stunner.

-Jericho ties the challenger’s hands behind his back with gaffer’s tape. Allin, however, struggles to his feet. He is a defenseless, wide-open target. Allin lionsaults from the second rope with NO HANDS. He follows with a suicide dive. The balls on this kid…

He then goes off the top rope for a two-count.

Jericho gets Allin’s skateboard and powerbombs him on it for a nearfall.

Allin goes to scale the turnbuckle when Jake Hager clocks him out of nowhere. Jericho locks on the Walls to retain by the submission. A good job was done to purposely not mention the Inner Circle, adding to the punch of, well, Hager’s punch.

The rest of the IC infiltrate the ring. Jericho chugs “a little bit of the bubbly” as the show goes off the air.

Overall

Another structurally sound episode of Dynamite. The big winners of the week were Scorpio Sky and the producers of the terrific Cody Rhodes package. Each week the company has made forward progress in some form or another. I even enjoyed the Santana & Ortiz squash. It shows that the company doesn’t have to depend on top guys vs. top guys to have traction on the program.

Trouble areas: Marko Stunt. He isn’t a bad kid but he needs seasoning as a performer. He was glaringly out of place this evening.

Riho. I’m not sure what’s going on with her matches. There seems to be a clumsiness there and I’m not certain of the cause. I’m sure, however, that it will be a fairly simple solution.

After the show:

To be continued…

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