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BTE/Dynamite/Rampage (09.13.21 - 09.17.21)
I have made it through another visit from my aunts, RIP my week off, you barely had a chance. Making the most of my last two days by doing a whole lot of nothin', though. It's nice.
Also I got new boots. They need a little breaking in, but they were only thirty-five bucks, so I'm not complaining.
Some wrestling rambling as I try to get up the motivation to do some yoga...
So they are definitely running with the 'Adam doesn't remember what happened to him' angle! I wasn't sure if that was just a one-off joke or not, especially after he seemed to say 'I know what you did to me' when he first came out at All Out, but I'm guessing he was just referring to the way they betrayed him in the ring, and not the murder. Obviously, this is all just gonna be BTE pseudo-canon anyway, but it definitely informs things, especially as they lean into it with promos like the one where he talks about how he trusts Kenny and the Bucks with his life. He just wanted to go find Hangman and have a beer! How is he gonna react when he finds out what's going on with all that! GIVE ME MY ADAM SQUARED REUNION, DAMN IT.
Anyway, I can't wait for him to pick up right where he left off four years ago in driving insidious little wedges between Kenny and the Bucks when they already don't need a whole hell of a lot of help!
Adam Cole vs. Frankie Kazarian: I like how Kaz has been established as the guy to roll out to make the fancy new acquisitions look great in their first AEW match. He's good at it! Adam's attitude towards the crowd was the most interesting part of this match to me, he's soaking in their reactions and adoration, even as a heel, while the rest of the Elite have grown jaded and resentful towards them; it's like he truly has been preserved in amber for the last four years and I can't wait to see how he fits in (or doesn't) with the already-volatile group dynamic going forward. He's already reformed the Superkliq and they're fighting next week, while Kenny still rarely teams with the Bucks alone! He doesn't even know they're not in Bullet Club anymore and he's taking over anyway!
I'm a little underwhelmed by Fuego of all people getting a rematch against Miro (WHERE IS EDDIE'S GDI), but the angle of him putting his new car on the line for it is made extremely funny by the fact that it's not even a particularly fancy car. It's a fucking Hyundai! Precious Fuego, plz don't die. I hope he puts one of his kids on the line next time.
MJF cuts a promo on Pillman, and as much as I continue to be bored of his cheap yelling heat, the stuff about Pillman Sr. being in hell was pretty effective in terms of getting people to hate him, and Wardlow was there, being handsome, so it wasn't so bad. I'm really impressed by Pillman getting such a big platform going into Grand Slam, it's really refreshing that the card isn't just loaded up with Tony Khan's new shiny toys.
Christian cutting off Jungle Boy mid-promo was very interesting, the glimpses I've seen of his old TNA run have me very much looking forward to a heel turn from him. Surely it's only a matter of time before he goes full rat fink on Jurassic Express, but in a DILF kinda way now.
Dante Martin & Matt Sydal vs. FTR: A pair of high flyers without their tag team partners vs. the classic 'no flips just fists' mat wrestling duo, this is pretty much a simple alchemical formula to produce an entertaining matchup. Great energy.
AEW treating 'the Suzuki Incident' as a real thing is very funny and I enjoyed it, but also DON'T GIVE US INTERNET NERDS THAT MUCH POWER, PLEASE. Anyway, Lance and Suzuki reunited, getting a SUZUKI-GUN ICHIBAN on Dynamite, and their match against Eddie and Mox apparently being a lights out match???? hahaha i'm hyperventilating just thinking about it now
And then it was followed by an INSANE segment, starting with Malakai's still-wonderful over-the-top dramatic entrance only for him to call out an enemy in their midst, who turns out to be.... ROSARIO DAWSON?? IN THE AUDIENCE?? IN A NIGHTMARE FAMILY JACKET?? And he goes after her, but Cody storms the ring and Rosario Dawson jumps on his back and tries to choke him out???? and then he and Cody brawl into the crowd and I seriously wondered if the Suzuki-gun/Moxie/lights out news gave me a stroke and I was hallucinating everything that followed. God, I hope Cody loses next week.
More Dark Order infighting making me sad, to the point where Anna tells them not to be at ringside for her Rampage match if they can't knock it the fuck off. :( bOYS, PLEASE.
And then fucking Dan Lambert is back doing his terrible promo thing again, and it sucks, and then CHRIS JERICHO AND JAKE HAGER come out because hahahaha YEAH THAT'LL MAKE ME ENJOY THIS GARBAGE MORE, DEFINITELY. Now, the fact that THIS is gonna be the Grand Slam payoff to this whole running thing is actually interesting, because surely it was originally being set up to be Lance and somebody vs. the Men of the Year? But now Lance is in a fucking amazing match instead of this trash that is being thrown together at the last minute and I wonder why!! Suzuki Incident fallout? Was the lights out match truly a big change of plans because of the underwhelming match with Mox? That would also explain the Eddie/Miro rematch angle seemingly being dropped for the time being. HMMMMM.
First promo with heel Gunn Club, and I'm feeling it! Pointing out all their ridiculous undefeated records, lol
Jade Cargill vs. Leyla Hirsch: Jade's weaknesses stand out to me more and more the longer we go with them treating her as an unbeatable monster without anything else actually going on. She's green in the ring and her promos are so repetitive that they might as well be dead air; for all the people obsessed with what a STAR she so clearly is, I don't think she'll ever get there while doing nothing other than looking amazing (she does look amazing). Still loving cocky little Leyla trying to climb giant mountains, though, I need her to actually beat one of them now.
Andrade promo talking about how he gave Chavo the ol' heave-ho for interfering in his match with PAC (and making sure that Jose isn't off the hook for his taser stunt, either) that reads VERY different after the Plane Ride from Hell episode of Dark Side of the Ring aired; no fucking way they bring Flair in to replace him now, right?
Team Taz scuffling with CM Punk at the announce table is a bit whatever, if only because the HOOK memes annoy the fuck out of me, but holy shit, Powerhouse Hobbs is gonna be his second match??? I knew they were setting him up for something big, but not CM Punk big!!! Good for him, holy shit!
Darby Allin vs. Shawn Spears: Very solid, high-energy match. Digging Shawn's new whistling entrance, it's very dramatic but also kinda silly? Which fits nicely with his whole chair-based persona without being too much. Not sure where the post-match angle is leading, are we gonna get an old man fight between Sting and Tully or something?
Nice faceoff between Kenny and Brian Danielson, ending with them confirming a (non-title) match for Grand Slam. He's gonna have to be really impressive to live up to the massive hype the internet has for him, and for him having a match with Kenny in particular, so let's go! And then Miro accepts Fuego's challenge and Matt Hardy talks some more about how he's gonna shave Orange's head, lol they can't all be hype machines.
Eddie Kingston & Jon Moxley vs. 2point0: Somebody called 2point0 the Team Rocket of AEW, and now it's all I can think when I see them, it's so perfect. Also that makes Daniel Garcia Meowth. What a fun main event, Eddie and Mox just love each other so much they make me want to die, and then Lance and Suzuki came out and they brawled past the end of the episode anda;lkfdsja;ldskjf I can't wait for this match oh my god
Lucha Brothers (c) vs. The Butcher and the Blade for the AEW World Tag Team Championship: I really liked them emphasizing the fact that these guys were all part of Eddie's Familia last year and have that history; remembering how Eddie spent all those months trying to get Penta to turn on Fenix make his sacrifices for his baby brudder all the more meaningful now. This was a solid little low-key banger right until the end, which had me both hooting AND hollering, my GOD. First, Penta UNMASKING HIMSELF TO SAVE FENIX, AAAAAAAHHHHHHH, somehow that felt like an even bigger deal than when he took a tack-covered shoe to the face for him at All Out, then SANTANA & ORTIZ??? Coming out for the post-match beatdown save???? My boys! In full Dead Presidents makeup! Getting plots of their own independent of the Inner Circle!!! YES PLEASE. I still want them to be tag champions, too, so having them stay in the conversation by actively being involved with the champions, even as allies, is excellent for my personal agenda. All in all, a great first title defence for the Lucha Bros.
Omega v. Danielson hype package. This better be fuckin' amazing.
Anna Jay vs. The Bunny: The cult girlfriends vs. murder girlfriends feud continues, and I cannot get enough! Even if it means my perfect sunshine/goth angels eat some brass knuckles on the regular. MAYBE IF THE REST OF DARK ORDER WEREN'T BUSY FIGHTING EACH OTHER, GDI.
The less said about the weird HFO head-shaving bit that followed Butcher, Blade, and Bunny all losing their matches, the better. Matt Hardy have a feud that actually ends challenge go! The fucking amazing in-ring showdown between Ruby and Britt that followed was worlds better than pretty much any other promo this week, maybe this month, FUCK IT WAS SO GOOD I COULD HAVE WATCHED THEM SNIPE AT EACH OTHER FOR A SOLID HOUR.
Miro (c) vs. Fuego Del Sol for the AEW TNT Championship: This got a LOT more time than I expected it to, considering we've already seen them fight and the ending was never really in doubt, but getting the time to be a proper main event was a really nice way of making sure Fuego never felt like a joke. He's just scrappy, is all! Looks like this was all to set up a Miro vs. Sammy angle, which I can get behind; he'll only be the second real challenger after Eddie who really has a shot at beating Miro, so it should be interesting. Also, Sammy, Santana, and Ortiz all being in interesting plots of their own while Jericho and Hager are stuck in horrible Dan Lambert purgatory is pretty much a dream come true outcome for the Inner Circle, it is truly what every single one of them deserves.
NEXT UP: ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM
Also I got new boots. They need a little breaking in, but they were only thirty-five bucks, so I'm not complaining.
Some wrestling rambling as I try to get up the motivation to do some yoga...
So they are definitely running with the 'Adam doesn't remember what happened to him' angle! I wasn't sure if that was just a one-off joke or not, especially after he seemed to say 'I know what you did to me' when he first came out at All Out, but I'm guessing he was just referring to the way they betrayed him in the ring, and not the murder. Obviously, this is all just gonna be BTE pseudo-canon anyway, but it definitely informs things, especially as they lean into it with promos like the one where he talks about how he trusts Kenny and the Bucks with his life. He just wanted to go find Hangman and have a beer! How is he gonna react when he finds out what's going on with all that! GIVE ME MY ADAM SQUARED REUNION, DAMN IT.
Anyway, I can't wait for him to pick up right where he left off four years ago in driving insidious little wedges between Kenny and the Bucks when they already don't need a whole hell of a lot of help!
Adam Cole vs. Frankie Kazarian: I like how Kaz has been established as the guy to roll out to make the fancy new acquisitions look great in their first AEW match. He's good at it! Adam's attitude towards the crowd was the most interesting part of this match to me, he's soaking in their reactions and adoration, even as a heel, while the rest of the Elite have grown jaded and resentful towards them; it's like he truly has been preserved in amber for the last four years and I can't wait to see how he fits in (or doesn't) with the already-volatile group dynamic going forward. He's already reformed the Superkliq and they're fighting next week, while Kenny still rarely teams with the Bucks alone! He doesn't even know they're not in Bullet Club anymore and he's taking over anyway!
I'm a little underwhelmed by Fuego of all people getting a rematch against Miro (WHERE IS EDDIE'S GDI), but the angle of him putting his new car on the line for it is made extremely funny by the fact that it's not even a particularly fancy car. It's a fucking Hyundai! Precious Fuego, plz don't die. I hope he puts one of his kids on the line next time.
MJF cuts a promo on Pillman, and as much as I continue to be bored of his cheap yelling heat, the stuff about Pillman Sr. being in hell was pretty effective in terms of getting people to hate him, and Wardlow was there, being handsome, so it wasn't so bad. I'm really impressed by Pillman getting such a big platform going into Grand Slam, it's really refreshing that the card isn't just loaded up with Tony Khan's new shiny toys.
Christian cutting off Jungle Boy mid-promo was very interesting, the glimpses I've seen of his old TNA run have me very much looking forward to a heel turn from him. Surely it's only a matter of time before he goes full rat fink on Jurassic Express, but in a DILF kinda way now.
Dante Martin & Matt Sydal vs. FTR: A pair of high flyers without their tag team partners vs. the classic 'no flips just fists' mat wrestling duo, this is pretty much a simple alchemical formula to produce an entertaining matchup. Great energy.
AEW treating 'the Suzuki Incident' as a real thing is very funny and I enjoyed it, but also DON'T GIVE US INTERNET NERDS THAT MUCH POWER, PLEASE. Anyway, Lance and Suzuki reunited, getting a SUZUKI-GUN ICHIBAN on Dynamite, and their match against Eddie and Mox apparently being a lights out match???? hahaha i'm hyperventilating just thinking about it now
And then it was followed by an INSANE segment, starting with Malakai's still-wonderful over-the-top dramatic entrance only for him to call out an enemy in their midst, who turns out to be.... ROSARIO DAWSON?? IN THE AUDIENCE?? IN A NIGHTMARE FAMILY JACKET?? And he goes after her, but Cody storms the ring and Rosario Dawson jumps on his back and tries to choke him out???? and then he and Cody brawl into the crowd and I seriously wondered if the Suzuki-gun/Moxie/lights out news gave me a stroke and I was hallucinating everything that followed. God, I hope Cody loses next week.
More Dark Order infighting making me sad, to the point where Anna tells them not to be at ringside for her Rampage match if they can't knock it the fuck off. :( bOYS, PLEASE.
And then fucking Dan Lambert is back doing his terrible promo thing again, and it sucks, and then CHRIS JERICHO AND JAKE HAGER come out because hahahaha YEAH THAT'LL MAKE ME ENJOY THIS GARBAGE MORE, DEFINITELY. Now, the fact that THIS is gonna be the Grand Slam payoff to this whole running thing is actually interesting, because surely it was originally being set up to be Lance and somebody vs. the Men of the Year? But now Lance is in a fucking amazing match instead of this trash that is being thrown together at the last minute and I wonder why!! Suzuki Incident fallout? Was the lights out match truly a big change of plans because of the underwhelming match with Mox? That would also explain the Eddie/Miro rematch angle seemingly being dropped for the time being. HMMMMM.
First promo with heel Gunn Club, and I'm feeling it! Pointing out all their ridiculous undefeated records, lol
Jade Cargill vs. Leyla Hirsch: Jade's weaknesses stand out to me more and more the longer we go with them treating her as an unbeatable monster without anything else actually going on. She's green in the ring and her promos are so repetitive that they might as well be dead air; for all the people obsessed with what a STAR she so clearly is, I don't think she'll ever get there while doing nothing other than looking amazing (she does look amazing). Still loving cocky little Leyla trying to climb giant mountains, though, I need her to actually beat one of them now.
Andrade promo talking about how he gave Chavo the ol' heave-ho for interfering in his match with PAC (and making sure that Jose isn't off the hook for his taser stunt, either) that reads VERY different after the Plane Ride from Hell episode of Dark Side of the Ring aired; no fucking way they bring Flair in to replace him now, right?
Team Taz scuffling with CM Punk at the announce table is a bit whatever, if only because the HOOK memes annoy the fuck out of me, but holy shit, Powerhouse Hobbs is gonna be his second match??? I knew they were setting him up for something big, but not CM Punk big!!! Good for him, holy shit!
Darby Allin vs. Shawn Spears: Very solid, high-energy match. Digging Shawn's new whistling entrance, it's very dramatic but also kinda silly? Which fits nicely with his whole chair-based persona without being too much. Not sure where the post-match angle is leading, are we gonna get an old man fight between Sting and Tully or something?
Nice faceoff between Kenny and Brian Danielson, ending with them confirming a (non-title) match for Grand Slam. He's gonna have to be really impressive to live up to the massive hype the internet has for him, and for him having a match with Kenny in particular, so let's go! And then Miro accepts Fuego's challenge and Matt Hardy talks some more about how he's gonna shave Orange's head, lol they can't all be hype machines.
Eddie Kingston & Jon Moxley vs. 2point0: Somebody called 2point0 the Team Rocket of AEW, and now it's all I can think when I see them, it's so perfect. Also that makes Daniel Garcia Meowth. What a fun main event, Eddie and Mox just love each other so much they make me want to die, and then Lance and Suzuki came out and they brawled past the end of the episode anda;lkfdsja;ldskjf I can't wait for this match oh my god
Lucha Brothers (c) vs. The Butcher and the Blade for the AEW World Tag Team Championship: I really liked them emphasizing the fact that these guys were all part of Eddie's Familia last year and have that history; remembering how Eddie spent all those months trying to get Penta to turn on Fenix make his sacrifices for his baby brudder all the more meaningful now. This was a solid little low-key banger right until the end, which had me both hooting AND hollering, my GOD. First, Penta UNMASKING HIMSELF TO SAVE FENIX, AAAAAAAHHHHHHH, somehow that felt like an even bigger deal than when he took a tack-covered shoe to the face for him at All Out, then SANTANA & ORTIZ??? Coming out for the post-match beatdown save???? My boys! In full Dead Presidents makeup! Getting plots of their own independent of the Inner Circle!!! YES PLEASE. I still want them to be tag champions, too, so having them stay in the conversation by actively being involved with the champions, even as allies, is excellent for my personal agenda. All in all, a great first title defence for the Lucha Bros.
Omega v. Danielson hype package. This better be fuckin' amazing.
Anna Jay vs. The Bunny: The cult girlfriends vs. murder girlfriends feud continues, and I cannot get enough! Even if it means my perfect sunshine/goth angels eat some brass knuckles on the regular. MAYBE IF THE REST OF DARK ORDER WEREN'T BUSY FIGHTING EACH OTHER, GDI.
The less said about the weird HFO head-shaving bit that followed Butcher, Blade, and Bunny all losing their matches, the better. Matt Hardy have a feud that actually ends challenge go! The fucking amazing in-ring showdown between Ruby and Britt that followed was worlds better than pretty much any other promo this week, maybe this month, FUCK IT WAS SO GOOD I COULD HAVE WATCHED THEM SNIPE AT EACH OTHER FOR A SOLID HOUR.
Miro (c) vs. Fuego Del Sol for the AEW TNT Championship: This got a LOT more time than I expected it to, considering we've already seen them fight and the ending was never really in doubt, but getting the time to be a proper main event was a really nice way of making sure Fuego never felt like a joke. He's just scrappy, is all! Looks like this was all to set up a Miro vs. Sammy angle, which I can get behind; he'll only be the second real challenger after Eddie who really has a shot at beating Miro, so it should be interesting. Also, Sammy, Santana, and Ortiz all being in interesting plots of their own while Jericho and Hager are stuck in horrible Dan Lambert purgatory is pretty much a dream come true outcome for the Inner Circle, it is truly what every single one of them deserves.
NEXT UP: ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM