Post by sethisthegoat on Jul 31, 2023 10:41:04 GMT -5
AEW Dynamite
July 26, 2023
Dynamite kicks off with The Apex coming out to the ring, minus Wardlow, with a highlight from last week when they challenged Roman Reigns to a match with Wardlow this week. Jeff Jarrett gets on the mic and says that he can’t wait for Reigns to come out and get slaughtered by Wardlow.
Match 1 - Roman Reigns vs. Wardlow
Reigns’ entrance is first, and he walks out alone. But before he can get too far, Wardlow comes rushing out of the other entrance with a chair and smacks it against Reigns’ back, before spinning him around and hitting Reigns with a choke slam. The rest of the Apex rushes over to assist in the beatdown, as the Bloodline moves in from backstage, and the Apex scatters as Jimmy and Jey Uso and Solo Sikoa check on Reigns.
—
We see a highlight of Miro’s win over Dean Malenko two weeks ago, followed by Malenko knocking him out with a ring bell. Then, last week, Malenko viciously attacked Miro at the end of the show with a baseball bat, and bloodied the bigger man. Coach announces that Miro isn’t here tonight, but we’ll hear from Dean Malenko later on.
—
We get a recap of the first round of the TBS Title tournament, which saw Tay Melo, Britt Baker, Sasha Banks and Willow Nightingale win. Next week will see round two, which will pit Melo against Baker and Banks against Nightingale. But tonight, they’ll be involved in a tag team match.
Melo, accompanied by Sammy Guevara, cuts a promo about winning the whole tournament. She’s going to work smarter than her foes and become the first TBS Champion. And when Sammy regains the TNT Championship, they’ll be Turner television’s First Couple.
Match 2 - Tay Melo & Willow Nightingale vs. Sasha Banks & Britt Baker
Each wrestler gets in their high spots — Nightingale spends some time working over Baker, but she’s able to escape and get a hot tag to Banks, who runs roughshod briefly, until Melo kicks her in the head. The finish comes after Melo narrowly wriggles out of the Lockjaw and hot tags Nightingale. Banks and Baker worked together to get Nightingale down, with Baker hitting a superkick into Banks’ neckbreaker.
Nightingale tries to crawl over to tag Melo, but Melo hops down and walks away, leaving Banks to hit a Frog Splash for the win in 9:42. Banks and Baker don’t celebrate and, instead, help Nightingale up. Banks and Nightingale shake hands.
—
Cody Rhodes is backstage, flanked by Dustin Rhodes and Harley Race. Cody says that Harley has something to say, but that it’ll happen at Rampage. For Cody, he’s happy to get a measure of revenge against Kenny Omega, and to get that monkey off of his back. Somehow, he knows that their rivalry with The Elite is far from over. But Cody wants to shift his sights toward Goldberg. See, the last he checked, Goldberg hasn’t wrestled for about 6 weeks. And, Cody, feeling generous, doesn’t want Goldie to be rusty come All Out. So Cody talked to Tony Khan, who agreed to a Championship Eliminator match next week, with Goldberg against Rob Van Dam. If RVD wins, he’ll receive a future title shot.
—
Roman Reigns is backstage, seething. He wants to see Wardlow in the ring tonight, no matter what it takes. He asks the Usos to go find Tony Khan for him and make the match happen, whatever it takes.
—
Match 3 - Young Bucks (4-3) w/ Kenny Omega vs. Los Parks (5-10)
The Bucks get the win after a BTE Trigger on LA Park Jr. in 7:17.
After the match, Omega gets on the mic and says that Cody Rhodes got lucky last week. And Dustin Rhodes and Harley Race stuck their noses in a place they don’t belong. All three of them will get what is coming their way.
—
Dean Malenko comes out to the ring, dressed for a match, and with a sneer on his face. He says he has something to say, but before he does, he wants to show some footage - A tape plays from two weeks ago, showing a person in a hoodie attack and lay out Ken Shamrock, giving Shamrock a concussion. As the person walks off, he looks up at the camera and takes down his hood. It’s Malenko, who proceeds to approach the camera and turn it off.
“I want there to be no question in anyone’s mind: I attacked Ken Shamrock. Just like I attacked Miro. These two have come into AEW on their high horses and have been handed title shots and opportunities. While I, the Iceman, was handed a pile of s*** wrapped up in “Pretty” Peter Avalon. I have fought for years. I’ve been professional. And, still, I’ve been overlooked and offered a bit part. So I decided to take matters into my own hands…”
Malenko interrupted by Gable Steveson, also with a mic - “I am starting to feel a little bit like you, Dean. I came in and was given a chance. I took advantage to become the first All-Atlantic Champion. And, since then? I can’t seem to get booked to save my life. But instead of assaulting others like you, I’ve bided my time. I’m taking my shot now, and I aim to teach you a lesson.”
• Background note for those new to this version of AEW - Last year, Malenko went on an epic losing streak and was about to retire. Until Peter Avalon intervened and talked Malenko into forming a team with him. They had some moderate success, and Malenko started to turn things around a little, until Avalon returned to his weasle-y ways and turned his back on Malenko. Malenko won their brief feud while joining forces with RVD and Sabu. Also, Gable Steveson was undefeated for a few months and won the All-Atlantic Championship at last year's Fight for the Fallen. He lost the title to Jake Hager; then lost a feud to Samoa Joe and has been seldom seen since February.
Match 4 - Dean Malenko (9-13) vs. Gable Steveson (9-3)
The technical grapplers put on a great back-and-forth mat-based match, with the bigger Steveson getting the advantage until Malenko acts like Steveson raked his eyes. As the ref checked on him, Malenko took a “blind” wild swing and knocked the ref down, acting like it was an accident.
Steveson went over to check on the ref. Malenko got something out of his boot, tapped on Steveson’s shoulder and unloaded on him with brass knuckles. Malenko covered Steveson and shook the ref to come over and count the pin. Malenko gets the win in 10:57 and celebrates until Steveson stirs and Malenko scampers off.
—
The Usos find Tony Khan, who’s eating a cheeseburger. They ask what Tony is going to do about Wardlow’s attack earlier tonight. Khan replies that he promised the crowd that Roman Reigns and Wardlow would be in the ring against each other tonight. He announces tonight’s main event as Reigns and Solo Sikoa tagging against Wardlow and Shaun Spears. And if anything prevents that match from taking place, the responsible parties will be suspended.
—
AEW Women’s Champion Paige VanZant comes to ringside for guest commentary for the next match. Coach and McAfee ask her about Rousey’s challenge for the championship. VanZant says she looks forward to defending her belt at Summer Smash in 3 weeks.
Match 5 - Ronda Rousey (7-4) vs. Michelle McCool (5-8)
Rousey handles McCool with relative ease, making her tap out at 4:18. She sneers at VanZant after the match, but they don’t come to blows.
—
Bray Wyatt and Malakai Black are somewhere outside, in the dark, with the full moon behind them. Wyatt says they gave Raven a chance, and he took too long to make the decision. And now Taz and Mick Foley — Cactus Jack, Mankind, what-have-you — have also signed up for pain. When Wyatt and Black are done with them, they’ll be sorry.
—
Main Event - Reigns & Sikoa w/ The Usos vs. Wardlow & Shaun Spears w/ The Apex
Partway through the match, Jarrett busted his guitar over Jimmy Uso’s head on the outside. Reigns went to help Jey fight off JBL and Jarrett, while Wardlow and Spears double-teamed Sikoa inside. Wardlow got the pinfall victory after a Powerbomb Symphony at 12:50. Reigns slid in the ring after the match and tried to Spear Wardlow, but the bigger man didn’t budge. He roared and grabbed Reigns by the throat. Reigns was able to kick his way out of the chokeslam, but turned into a Clothesline from Hell from JBL. The Usos recovered outside and dragged both Reigns and Sikoa from the ring, while the heels stood tall as the show ended.
AEW Rampage -
July 28, 2023
Hook starts the show by coming to the ring, holding the TNT Championship over his shoulder. He tells Sammy Guevara that he wants to put their feud behind them once-and-for-all. He says that Summer Smash is coming up. Let’s put everything on the line with a best-of-three falls match for the title.Guevara answers the challenge. He says that when he beats Hook, he never wants to see him again.
—
Match 1 - Shelton Benjamin (2-3) w/ Natural Selection vs. Kofi Kingston (3-3) w/ The New Day
Benjamin gets the win with a roll-up by holding Kingston’s tights in 8:37. The heels retreat up the ramp until Big E Langston grabs the mic and calls Brian Cage a coward for continuing to avoid him. Cage looks enraged and starts to walk back toward the ring until Cesar Duran steps in front of him and tells him to back off. He’ll fight Big E on his terms, not on E’s terms.
—
UWA Women’s Champion - and AEW wrestler - Jade Cargill is flying on a private jet. She cuts a promo about flying around the world, representing AEW and proving her dominance as the top woman in professional wrestling. She calls out Bianca Belair and says her schedule is filling up quickly. She’ll see Bianca at Summer Smash. Right now, she’s on her way to WCW to show Charlotte Flair what stylin’ and profilin’ means. (this aired 2 days before WCW Phoenix Rising).
—
Back from break, we see a dark screen. Then headlights turn on. It’s a semi-truck, and its engine revs.
—
Tag team champions The Chosen Bros — Matt Riddle and Jeff Cobb — are backstage. Riddle says he has a present for Cobb, who looks slightly wary. Riddle heads out of the room and comes back in with a couple of helpers pushing a big, wooden box on a dolly.
He works to get it open, and it’s Dance Dance Revolution, the arcade game. Riddle tells Cobb they can have some fun and unwind now between matches. Cobb tells Riddle they were lucky to beat Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson last week. They need to focus on wrestling; not on playing games. Besides, how are they going to move the game from city to city? Riddle looks at the game and scratches his chin, before telling Cobb he has an idea.
—
Match 2 - Alexa Bliss (7-5) vs. Velvet Sky (1-8)
Bliss gets the win with Twisted Bliss in 5:12. She gets on the mic afterward and says she’s disappointed she didn’t get a shot at the TBS Championship. She asks the fans if they want to see more of her, which draws a cheer.
—
Harley Race comes out next to a big ovation. He grabs a mic and gets right to talking - “Thank you, thank you. It’s been great to be around the men in the back over the past couple of weeks. And, dammit if it didn’t feel good to wallop those Young Buck punks last week through the arena. You see, I couldn’t sit back and watch my close friend’s son get screwed out of another shot at the World Heavyweight Championship. So — along with Dustin — I took a stand. And I’ll take a stand, again, when Dustin and I face off against the Young Bucks next week on Dynamite.”
—
Match 3 - The American Wolves (7-9) vs. LAX (9-8) w/ Konnan
LAX gets the win after a hard-fought 15-minute match, with Hernandez hitting the Border Toss on Davey Richards for the win.
Next week on Dynamite/Rampage:
Championship Eliminator Match: Goldberg © vs. RVD
Young Bucks vs. Dustin Rhodes and Harley Race
TBS Tournament: Willow Nightingale vs. Sasha Banks
TBS Tournament: Taynara Melo vs. Britt Baker
Next special event: August 16/18, 2023 - Summer Smash
Current Card:
AEW Women’s Championship - Paige VanZant © vs. Ronda Rousey
UWA Women’s Championship - Jade Cargill © vs. Bianca Belair Background note - I would have saved this matchup for All Out...but Cargill is already busy that weekend in another promotion
TNT Championship - Best of 3 falls: Hook © vs. Sammy Guevara
TBS Championship Finals: ?? vs. ??
Next PPV: September 9, 2023 - All Out
Current Card:
AEW World Championship vs. Career: Goldberg © vs. Cody Rhodes