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Dynamite (08.11.2021)
Was weirdly hungry this morning? It seems to have subsided somewhat, which is good, because it's almost lunchtime and all I have is my usual shitty noodles (I ordered a burrito yesterday and it was COLD and they didn't even have shrimp, I deserved that), I need to not want to eat the moon. I need to be saving my money for the things that CHEW the food right now!
Dear people who make a show of standing there and reading through the entire document before paying your bill: all you are doing is exposing yourself as a moron and wasting both of our time, since the people who actually know what the fuck they're looking at don't spent an eternity on every fucking page, because they know that most of them say nothing of substance or about anything that was done to their vehicle. Talk to your goddamn service advisor if you need help understanding what you're looking at, you clearly have no fucking clue and there is no shame in that but there is tremendous shame in standing there like a jackass and making me do the same, either sign it or gtfo of my face.
wrestle wrestle? wrestle wrestle.
Was actively not looking forward to the night's main event, but Wardlow crushed an apple with his bare hand, so it wasn't a total loss.
Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks vs. Dante Martin & The Sydal Brothers: HOLY SHIT, WHAT A BANGER. Disappointingly light on drama considering this was the first time Kenny and the Bucks have teamed together as a trio ever since the Bucks caved and conceded their self-respect to Kenny and Don (while Kenny has teamed with his one-time replacement Bucks, the Good Brothers, approximately eight thousand times in the same period), but Dante was the REAL star here, anyway. THIS KID IS 20 FUCKING YEARS OLD, WHAT THE HELL. Matt and Mike Sydal were great, too (Matt's a vet, but Mike in particular has gotten a lot smoother in just the short time I've seen him work) -- and don't think the significance of randomly fighting the OTHER tag team that Kenny randomly used to replace/vent his frustrations with the Bucks on before he managed to snag the real things is lost on me -- but holy shit, DANTE. He got to look like an absolute star here, going toe-to-toe with Kenny all through the end of the match, kicking out and dodging away from all kinds of crazy spots until finally falling, just goddamn. Match of the night, easily, and what does it say that it's only NOW, after all these years together, that the Bucks and Kenny come up with a unique trios finisher for themselves?
And then Christian (backed up by Jurassic Express) calls out Kenny and as much as the internet is mega salty that it's not Hangman facing him at All Out, I don't hate it as much as I thought I might? Plans had to change because baby, Christian made a point of showing that he was gunning for the top back when he first showed up in AEW and has been steadily racking up the wins since then, it feels earned to me! And then he can turn heel or something after he loses, keep things fresh (he's been WEIRD with Jungle Boy lately). The real twist here is that he's apparently fighting Kenny for his Impact title on Friday first?? What?? Surely they're not gonna have him lose to Kenny ahead of their match at All Out, that makes no sense when anyone facing Kenny is already the underdog. He's a TNA guy at heart, could he actually win this?? Would they really have Kenny lose his first singles match since 2019 to anyone other than Hangman?? He's also defending his AAA belt against Andrade on Saturday, could he drop everything but the AEW belt over the course of a single weekend, making him more desperate than ever to retain the one that counts the most? Would they really let their top champion lose like that and continue to be champion? THIS IS SO FUCKING WEIRD, IT'S NOT EVEN THE RAMPAGE MAIN EVENT. Maybe Christian loses and then the Elite destroy him so he's not able to compete at All Out and needs to be replaced by Brian Danielson or something? I would not love that at all, but I truly have no clue where this is going!!
Malakai Black has replaced Darby Allin in my heart that only loves ridiculously extra black-and-white promos, this guy is so fucking fun.
AND I WAS TOTALLY RIGHT ABOUT MIRO BEING THE NEXT EX-WWE GUY TO MURDER FUEGO, THEY'RE GONNA FIGHT ON RAMPAGE LMAOOOOOOO RIP
Darby Allin vs. Daniel Garcia: Okay, I still like Darby, too! Allegations about his shitty old relationships aside. ANYWAY, AEW's been lacking in really excellent technical wrestlers, this Garcia guy seems like he really fills a void that Angelico's kinda been dancing all alone in for a while now. This match was really solid and fun to watch and those 2.0 guys are winning me over quickly; I love that they immediately showed up on BTE after their first appearance in AEW and immediately set up an angle with Sting of all people. SHOOT YOUR SHOT, BOYS!
PAC with the Lucha Bros. calls out Andrade, and as on the fence as I am about Andrade, the next month is gonna be VERY telling for him; he's gonna be fighting two of the best in the world in very short order, so if anything is gonna sell me on this guy as a wrestler, it'll be All Out and/or Triplemania.
Wheeler Yuta, Orange Cassidy & Chuck Taylor vs. Matt Hardy & Private Party: I think it's safe to say Yuta is officially our Trent stand-in so whatever happens with the Best Friends as a trio, it was probably always what was gonna happen, even before his surgery. WE ONLY JUST GOT HIM BACK, GOD DAMN IT. Anyway, this match was okay? Bit of a mess, honestly, Matt Hardy injecting himself into endless midcard faction feuds with no conclusive finish is starting to get to me, and HFO getting the win was deeply unsatisfying. Whatever, it's a setup match for wherever they're going with all this.
Andrade calls out PAC in turn and yeah, I'm so glad they went with Chavo over Vickie as his manager, even if it just feels like they're throwing stuff at the wall for him to see if anything sticks. I swear to god, if they bring in Ric Flair for him next...
Quick FTR vs. PnP video package, keeping that feud hot which I appreciate, SHOWING US CASH'S FUCKING INJURY AGAIN WHICH I DO NOT APPRECIATE AGH AT LEAST WARN A BITCH FIRST FLESH IS NOT SUPPOSED TO LOOK THAT POINTY
Nyla Rose vs. Kris Statlander: A huge, decisive win for Kris here, WOW, and an important step in building her as a credible threat since it's looking like she'll be the one challenging Britt at All Out (since Red Velvet's getting her shot on Friday). There are worse reasons to sacrifice her 'undefeated since returning' streak, I'll take it, and I LOVE that they're establishing the Area 451 Splash as an absolute beast of a finisher after not letting her do it for so long; really makes it feel like a big damn deal. Obviously, the shitty part here is that the lone women's match on the card lasted all of five fucking minutes, which is fucking atrocious; since they're actually getting to main event Rampage, guess they figured that was good enough? Ugh. At least it wasn't in the pre-main event slot for once. PLEASE, SIR, A SCRAP OF PLOT FOR THE LADIES?
Jurassic Express dunking on the Bucks as they get nasty about Hangman was so very satisfying. Looking forward to that match next week! Especially since I'm pretty sure it was a last minute decision with Max Caster/The Acclaimed/their whole plot with the Varsity Blonds abruptly scrubbed from the tag team championship picture (god, what a mess that whole situation was).
Britt interview ahead of her big hometown title defense and man, it's so blatant that her feuds with Nyla and Velvet really should have swapped? Putting her against another heel as her first feud as champion totally defanged her, and now when she's up against a perfect natural babyface like Red Velvet, the crowd is going to be with her even more than usual because it's fucking Pittsburgh! They fucking BOOED Velvet when she ran out to beat her up here! That's ridiculous, Nyla would have made 8000% more sense in this role, and Velvet would have made so much sense as the first one out of the gate, gah.
Quick Ricky vs. Brian package, that feud feels like it's cooling off quickly, so fuck 'em up fast Cage.
The Good Brothers (c) vs. Evil Uno & Stu Grayson for the Impact Tag Team Championship: NOT ME STILL UPSET ABOUT HOW COLT WAS THE ONLY MEMBER OF DARK ORDER TO COME OUT FOR THEM FOR ONE OF THEIR BIGGEST MATCHES IN AGES. COULDN'T BE ME! Hangman wouldn't want you to fight because of him, boys. :( ANYWAY, it was a long shot, but I love seeing Dark Order getting big title matches like this, especially the OG members; since they expanded their membership last year, Uno and Stu can get a little lost in the shuffle next to guys like Silver and 10, and Stu in particular is low-key one of the best wrestlers in AEW (I LOVE IT WHEN HE WALKS ON DUDES' SHOULDERS TO GET AROUND THE RING), so this was very satisfying for me from both a wrasslin' standpoint and a 'Dark Order has (very sad) plot even without Hangman around' standpoint. Also, Kaz dragging Brandon away into the shadow realm was great.
Kamille promo!! I don't love her over in NWA, but her time-limit draw with Thunder Rosa earlier in the year is actually one of my favourite matches of 2021 and I'm psyched as hell to see Leyla fight somebody fully twice her size.
Boring bit with QT and Tony, they drag his son out of the audience and beat him up for awhile until the Big Show (I'm sorry, I can't call him anything else) comes out to defend his co-commentator's honour! OKAY, THAT'S PRETTY FUN. Britt vs. QT would be better, though.
We got a recap of Joey turning on Sonny earlier in the week, so I guess heel Joey is gonna be showing up on TV soon? I'M VERY UPSET ABOUT THIS DEVELOPMENT, FOR THE RECORD. Bad Romance is dead, long live Bad Romance. :___;
Chris Jericho vs. Wardlow, The Five Labors of Jericho: Chapter 4 (MJF at Ringside): Uuuuuugh, THIS WAS FINE FOR WHAT IT WAS, most of the match was Wardlow just beating the everloving shit out of Jericho, which was actually pretty delightful for a good long while, and Jericho needing to use Floyd to win protects Wardlow somewhat, though I wish it had taken more to put him down. Also, Aubrey ejecting Max seemed like a total bullshit call to me? Yeah, he was obviously cheating, but him being at ringside WAS THE SPECIAL STIPULATION, if he can just be ejected, it's not a labour anymore, it's just a boring fucking match; he should have had free reign to just do whatever, otherwise what was the point? WHATEVER, JUST FIGHT HIM AND GET IT OVER WITH ALREADY. And then Wardlow can turn on MJF and go on a proper solo run and be wife city forever, the end.
Dear people who make a show of standing there and reading through the entire document before paying your bill: all you are doing is exposing yourself as a moron and wasting both of our time, since the people who actually know what the fuck they're looking at don't spent an eternity on every fucking page, because they know that most of them say nothing of substance or about anything that was done to their vehicle. Talk to your goddamn service advisor if you need help understanding what you're looking at, you clearly have no fucking clue and there is no shame in that but there is tremendous shame in standing there like a jackass and making me do the same, either sign it or gtfo of my face.
wrestle wrestle? wrestle wrestle.
Was actively not looking forward to the night's main event, but Wardlow crushed an apple with his bare hand, so it wasn't a total loss.
Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks vs. Dante Martin & The Sydal Brothers: HOLY SHIT, WHAT A BANGER. Disappointingly light on drama considering this was the first time Kenny and the Bucks have teamed together as a trio ever since the Bucks caved and conceded their self-respect to Kenny and Don (while Kenny has teamed with his one-time replacement Bucks, the Good Brothers, approximately eight thousand times in the same period), but Dante was the REAL star here, anyway. THIS KID IS 20 FUCKING YEARS OLD, WHAT THE HELL. Matt and Mike Sydal were great, too (Matt's a vet, but Mike in particular has gotten a lot smoother in just the short time I've seen him work) -- and don't think the significance of randomly fighting the OTHER tag team that Kenny randomly used to replace/vent his frustrations with the Bucks on before he managed to snag the real things is lost on me -- but holy shit, DANTE. He got to look like an absolute star here, going toe-to-toe with Kenny all through the end of the match, kicking out and dodging away from all kinds of crazy spots until finally falling, just goddamn. Match of the night, easily, and what does it say that it's only NOW, after all these years together, that the Bucks and Kenny come up with a unique trios finisher for themselves?
And then Christian (backed up by Jurassic Express) calls out Kenny and as much as the internet is mega salty that it's not Hangman facing him at All Out, I don't hate it as much as I thought I might? Plans had to change because baby, Christian made a point of showing that he was gunning for the top back when he first showed up in AEW and has been steadily racking up the wins since then, it feels earned to me! And then he can turn heel or something after he loses, keep things fresh (he's been WEIRD with Jungle Boy lately). The real twist here is that he's apparently fighting Kenny for his Impact title on Friday first?? What?? Surely they're not gonna have him lose to Kenny ahead of their match at All Out, that makes no sense when anyone facing Kenny is already the underdog. He's a TNA guy at heart, could he actually win this?? Would they really have Kenny lose his first singles match since 2019 to anyone other than Hangman?? He's also defending his AAA belt against Andrade on Saturday, could he drop everything but the AEW belt over the course of a single weekend, making him more desperate than ever to retain the one that counts the most? Would they really let their top champion lose like that and continue to be champion? THIS IS SO FUCKING WEIRD, IT'S NOT EVEN THE RAMPAGE MAIN EVENT. Maybe Christian loses and then the Elite destroy him so he's not able to compete at All Out and needs to be replaced by Brian Danielson or something? I would not love that at all, but I truly have no clue where this is going!!
Malakai Black has replaced Darby Allin in my heart that only loves ridiculously extra black-and-white promos, this guy is so fucking fun.
AND I WAS TOTALLY RIGHT ABOUT MIRO BEING THE NEXT EX-WWE GUY TO MURDER FUEGO, THEY'RE GONNA FIGHT ON RAMPAGE LMAOOOOOOO RIP
Darby Allin vs. Daniel Garcia: Okay, I still like Darby, too! Allegations about his shitty old relationships aside. ANYWAY, AEW's been lacking in really excellent technical wrestlers, this Garcia guy seems like he really fills a void that Angelico's kinda been dancing all alone in for a while now. This match was really solid and fun to watch and those 2.0 guys are winning me over quickly; I love that they immediately showed up on BTE after their first appearance in AEW and immediately set up an angle with Sting of all people. SHOOT YOUR SHOT, BOYS!
PAC with the Lucha Bros. calls out Andrade, and as on the fence as I am about Andrade, the next month is gonna be VERY telling for him; he's gonna be fighting two of the best in the world in very short order, so if anything is gonna sell me on this guy as a wrestler, it'll be All Out and/or Triplemania.
Wheeler Yuta, Orange Cassidy & Chuck Taylor vs. Matt Hardy & Private Party: I think it's safe to say Yuta is officially our Trent stand-in so whatever happens with the Best Friends as a trio, it was probably always what was gonna happen, even before his surgery. WE ONLY JUST GOT HIM BACK, GOD DAMN IT. Anyway, this match was okay? Bit of a mess, honestly, Matt Hardy injecting himself into endless midcard faction feuds with no conclusive finish is starting to get to me, and HFO getting the win was deeply unsatisfying. Whatever, it's a setup match for wherever they're going with all this.
Andrade calls out PAC in turn and yeah, I'm so glad they went with Chavo over Vickie as his manager, even if it just feels like they're throwing stuff at the wall for him to see if anything sticks. I swear to god, if they bring in Ric Flair for him next...
Quick FTR vs. PnP video package, keeping that feud hot which I appreciate, SHOWING US CASH'S FUCKING INJURY AGAIN WHICH I DO NOT APPRECIATE AGH AT LEAST WARN A BITCH FIRST FLESH IS NOT SUPPOSED TO LOOK THAT POINTY
Nyla Rose vs. Kris Statlander: A huge, decisive win for Kris here, WOW, and an important step in building her as a credible threat since it's looking like she'll be the one challenging Britt at All Out (since Red Velvet's getting her shot on Friday). There are worse reasons to sacrifice her 'undefeated since returning' streak, I'll take it, and I LOVE that they're establishing the Area 451 Splash as an absolute beast of a finisher after not letting her do it for so long; really makes it feel like a big damn deal. Obviously, the shitty part here is that the lone women's match on the card lasted all of five fucking minutes, which is fucking atrocious; since they're actually getting to main event Rampage, guess they figured that was good enough? Ugh. At least it wasn't in the pre-main event slot for once. PLEASE, SIR, A SCRAP OF PLOT FOR THE LADIES?
Jurassic Express dunking on the Bucks as they get nasty about Hangman was so very satisfying. Looking forward to that match next week! Especially since I'm pretty sure it was a last minute decision with Max Caster/The Acclaimed/their whole plot with the Varsity Blonds abruptly scrubbed from the tag team championship picture (god, what a mess that whole situation was).
Britt interview ahead of her big hometown title defense and man, it's so blatant that her feuds with Nyla and Velvet really should have swapped? Putting her against another heel as her first feud as champion totally defanged her, and now when she's up against a perfect natural babyface like Red Velvet, the crowd is going to be with her even more than usual because it's fucking Pittsburgh! They fucking BOOED Velvet when she ran out to beat her up here! That's ridiculous, Nyla would have made 8000% more sense in this role, and Velvet would have made so much sense as the first one out of the gate, gah.
Quick Ricky vs. Brian package, that feud feels like it's cooling off quickly, so fuck 'em up fast Cage.
The Good Brothers (c) vs. Evil Uno & Stu Grayson for the Impact Tag Team Championship: NOT ME STILL UPSET ABOUT HOW COLT WAS THE ONLY MEMBER OF DARK ORDER TO COME OUT FOR THEM FOR ONE OF THEIR BIGGEST MATCHES IN AGES. COULDN'T BE ME! Hangman wouldn't want you to fight because of him, boys. :( ANYWAY, it was a long shot, but I love seeing Dark Order getting big title matches like this, especially the OG members; since they expanded their membership last year, Uno and Stu can get a little lost in the shuffle next to guys like Silver and 10, and Stu in particular is low-key one of the best wrestlers in AEW (I LOVE IT WHEN HE WALKS ON DUDES' SHOULDERS TO GET AROUND THE RING), so this was very satisfying for me from both a wrasslin' standpoint and a 'Dark Order has (very sad) plot even without Hangman around' standpoint. Also, Kaz dragging Brandon away into the shadow realm was great.
Kamille promo!! I don't love her over in NWA, but her time-limit draw with Thunder Rosa earlier in the year is actually one of my favourite matches of 2021 and I'm psyched as hell to see Leyla fight somebody fully twice her size.
Boring bit with QT and Tony, they drag his son out of the audience and beat him up for awhile until the Big Show (I'm sorry, I can't call him anything else) comes out to defend his co-commentator's honour! OKAY, THAT'S PRETTY FUN. Britt vs. QT would be better, though.
We got a recap of Joey turning on Sonny earlier in the week, so I guess heel Joey is gonna be showing up on TV soon? I'M VERY UPSET ABOUT THIS DEVELOPMENT, FOR THE RECORD. Bad Romance is dead, long live Bad Romance. :___;
Chris Jericho vs. Wardlow, The Five Labors of Jericho: Chapter 4 (MJF at Ringside): Uuuuuugh, THIS WAS FINE FOR WHAT IT WAS, most of the match was Wardlow just beating the everloving shit out of Jericho, which was actually pretty delightful for a good long while, and Jericho needing to use Floyd to win protects Wardlow somewhat, though I wish it had taken more to put him down. Also, Aubrey ejecting Max seemed like a total bullshit call to me? Yeah, he was obviously cheating, but him being at ringside WAS THE SPECIAL STIPULATION, if he can just be ejected, it's not a labour anymore, it's just a boring fucking match; he should have had free reign to just do whatever, otherwise what was the point? WHATEVER, JUST FIGHT HIM AND GET IT OVER WITH ALREADY. And then Wardlow can turn on MJF and go on a proper solo run and be wife city forever, the end.