AEW: Dynamite - Fight For the Fallen Review - July 27th, 2022

AEW Dynamite 

Fight for the Fallen 2022

July 27th, 2022

Worcester, MA

AEW World Champion: CM Punk (since 5/29/22)

AEW Interim World Champion: Jon Moxley (since 6/26/22)

AEW World Tag Team Champions: Swerve Strickland & Keith Lee (since 7/13/22)

AEW Women’s World Champion: Thunder Rosa (since 3/16/22)

AEW TBS Champion: Jade Cargill (since 1/5/22)

AEW TNT Champion: Wardlow (since 7/6/22)

1) Jon Moxley (c) vs. RUSH - AEW World Championship Match 

Listen, firstly, I’m not calling Mox the interim World champ because that’s just short selling this run he’s having. Rush had an insane match with Dragon Lee this past weekend and that was enough to get me hyped for this considering how killer Mox is right now. We get the best Mox entrance in recent memory as he comes out super fired up and throwing bottles in the crowd. This match couldn’t have happened at a more perfect moment in time. Rush gets the jump on Moxley early and we see blood from the forehead of the champion just minutes into this. This was a great brawl that fell into the vein of Moxley’s style of match while also leaning into Rush’s brawling side which truthfully isn’t very far off from Moxley’s in a way if you look at some Rush’s past grudge matches and such. This just rocked. Stiff strikes, suplexes, nearfalls and some blood. Everything you expect from 2022 Mox and nothing less. Everything you’d want from Rush after his barnburner with his brother last weekend. Andrade tried to run down to interfere, but the Lucha Bros made the save and ran them off which added some drama to the final stretch. Mox retains off of a paradigm shift. 

Match rating - ***3/4

Random Match Review: Jon Moxley & Wheeler Yuta vs. Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta) - AEW: Dynamite - July 20th, 2022

Jon Moxley & Wheeler Yuta vs. Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta) - AEW Dynamite - July 20th, 2022

This probably comes as no surprise to anyone who knows me, but I loved this match. I don’t think I loved it solely because of bias, though. I think I tend to be pretty fair in my analysis of most things and when I am being biased, I can call myself out for it and own it. 

Sure, I love Chuck Taylor more than most. Yes, Jon Moxley is my undoubted Wrestler of the Year so far and has me glued to the screen any time he’s on. And yes, Wheeler Yuta has been a consistent favorite of mine this year as well. 

Take all of that away, though, and I think you still have one of the best TV matches of the year. In all honesty, I think it may go down as one of the most underrated ones considering some of the takes I’ve seen on it. 

Random Match Review: Jon Moxley vs. Konsosuke Takeshita - AEW: Dynamite - July 13th, 2022

I don't do these often. That's mainly probably because I'm super OCD about reviewing shows in full. Lately, however, I just have not had the time or motivation to fully sit down and analyze all the shows I've been watching. That leads us here.

This week on Dynamite, we got possibly the best in-ring action overall of any week in recent memory. So much so that I woke up the next morning and couldn't stop thinking about two matches in particular with this being one of them.

When this was announced, everyone was ecstatic including myself. DDT’s ace Takeshita is in the midst of his US excursion where he’s had bangers against everyone he’s faced inside and outside of AEW from Hangman Page to Mike Bailey. Then, you have Jon Moxley. The undoubted wrestler of the year so far and not to jinx it or spoil my year end awards, but I don’t see ANYONE knocking him from that spot. This match and the circumstances around it are good reason as to why, too. 

The last calendar month of Mox boast a great, gritty GCW Title defense against Tony Deppen on 6/17, a bloody battle with Tanahashi to win the AEW Title on 6/26, the crazy ass Blood & Guts match on 6/29, a slugfest with Brody King on 7/6 and after ALL OF THAT, Mox sees Takeshita having a killer match with Eddie Kingston on Rampage and says YO LET ME FIGHT HIM NEXT WEEK. A maniac. A pro wrestler’s pro wrestler. A fighter. 

This turns out to be everything expected of it and more. Some could say Mox matches in 2022 are very similar.. or at-least have similar traits. Blood, suplexes, head drops, stiff strikes and chops. You wouldn’t be wrong, but they don’t come off as a routine to me, they come off as a fight. Mox wants to wrestle and he goes into these matches completely unhinged with this match being no different. 

This is snug and focused from Mox and truthfully we see more fire from Takeshita than we have yet in AEW. I would’ve liked to seen more fire, but that’s a minor note. Takeshita gets color during the commercial break and as someone who has watched a lot of Takeshita’s stuff back in Japan, I can never recall him bleeding so although I could he wrong, this is definitely a rare occurrence and something I did not anticipate here. It definitely added some urgency to things and some additional sympathy that Takeshita’s matches with Hanger and King didn’t have. 

This was definitely a Jon Moxley match, but he let Takeshita go the fuck off and counter a ton of his stuff which gave us some awesome nearfalls. These two really just threw fucking bombs and I’d love another match between the two or a match between Takeshita and Claudio because this definitely pushed Takeshita a level further in the eyes of the AEW fan base. Just fantastic, pro wrestling and another notch on the belt of both these guys’ monumental years. I could see this being an amazing AEW Title match 3-4 years in the future with the roles being reversed if AEW wants to take it there. Takeshita has IT and they need to do whatever they can to keep him coming back regularly and use him accordingly. 

Match rating - ****1/4

AEW: Rampage Review - May 20th, 2022

 

AEW Rampage

May 20th, 2022

Houston, Texas

AEW World Champion: Hangman Adam Page (since 11/13/21)

AEW World Tag Team Champions: Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus (since 1/5/22)

AEW Women’s World Champion: Thunder Rosa (since 3/16/22)

AEW TBS Champion: Jade Cargill (since 1/5/22)

AEW TNT Champion: Scorpio Sky (since 4/27/22)

Commentators - Excalibur, Taz, Ricky Starks, Chris Jericho, & Ruby Soho

1) Malakai Black, Brody King, & Buddy Matthews vs. Evil Uno, 10, & Fuego Del Sol

This was a great opener. It's setting in that Stu Grayson really is gone from AEW as we see Uno teaming with 10 & Fuego here. RIP :((( BUT YEAH. HOB kills these trios matches and this was no exception. Just a blast of a way to kick this show off. HOB obviously wins, but that doesn't take away from how fun this was along the way. 

Match rating - ***

AEW: Dynamite Review - May 18th, 2022

AEW Dynamite - WILDCARD WEDNESDAY 

May 18th, 2022

Houston, Texas 

AEW World Champion: Hangman Adam Page (since 11/13/21)

AEW World Tag Team Champions: Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus (since 1/5/22)

AEW Women’s World Champion: Thunder Rosa (since 3/16/22)

AEW TBS Champion: Jade Cargill (since 1/5/22)

AEW TNT Champion: Scorpio Sky (since 4/27/22)

Commentators - Excalibur, Jim Ross, & Tony Schiavone 

1) Samoa Joe vs. Johnny Elite - Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Match 

The show opens with Samoa Joe against a mystery joker opponent. The ROH TV Champ enters with his title and awaits the rival of the joker which turns out to be the former John Morrison/Johnny Nitro/Johnny Mundo. This was a letdown for some. I admittedly wanted Claudio Castagnoli, but I will accept this rather than it being someone like Johnny Gargano. There’s been enough bland NXT people joining the team.. so a one off from Morrison? I’m fine with that. The match is fun as well. So no complaints from me. Is it great? Nah! But is it good? Yes. It felt like a match from 2014-2015 Raw that would be getting rave reviews under that platform. But here in AEW, the bar is so high. I’m just glad it wasn’t a melodramatic NXT/Adam Cole style match. It had close falls and big spots, but they didn’t go anywhere near overboard and as a result, I enjoyed the hell out of it. A Joe prolonged squash would’ve also satisfied me just as much, but it won’t complain at all about whag we got because it could’ve been MUCH worse and I enjoyed this more than a lot of recent matches that have made Dynamite. It’s not FTR/Bucks obviously and it’s nowhere near Punk/Dustin even.. but it beats a lot of other stuff. Joe wins to advance to the semi finals. 

Match rating - ***1/4

After the match, Joe is immediately jumped by Jay Lethal and Sonjay Dutt. Satnam Singh begins walking down the ramp as well. Thankfully THE BOYS are in the building. Chuck Taylor, Trent Beretta, & Rocky Romero hit the ring with chairs to run off the bastards.

AEW: Rampage Review - May 6th, 2022

AEW Rampage 

May 6th, 2022

Baltimore, Maryland 

AEW World Champion: Hangman Adam Page (since 11/13/21)

AEW World Tag Team Champions: Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus (since 1/5/22)

AEW Women’s World Champion: Thunder Rosa (since 3/16/22)

AEW TBS Champion: Jade Cargill (since 1/5/22)

AEW TNT Champion: Scorpio Sky (since 4/27/22)

Commentators - Excalibur, Taz, Chris Jericho & Ricky Starks 

Hello everyone. It’s a 5:30pm edition of Rampage and IM HERE. I accidentally turned to TBS instead of TNT but I realized it before missing more than a few minutes of the show. 

1) Britt Baker & Jamie Hayter (w/ Rebel) vs. Ruby Soho & Toni Storm

AEW: Dynamite Review - May 4th, 2022

AEW Dynamite

May 4th, 2022

Baltimore, Maryland

 AEW World Champion: Hangman Adam Page (since 11/13/21)

AEW World Tag Team Champions: Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus (since 1/5/22)

AEW Women’s World Champion: Thunder Rosa (since 3/16/22)

AEW TBS Champion: Jade Cargill (since 1/5/22)

AEW TNT Champion: Scorpio Sky (since 4/27/22)

Commentators - Excalibur, Jim Ross, & Tony Schiavone 

Adam Cole opens the show to a massive pop to join commentary for the opening match.

1) Jeff Hardy (w/ Matt Hardy) vs. Bobby Fish (w/ Kyle O’Reilly) - Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Qualifier 

Yeah this suuuucked. Not like offensively bad.. but not anywhere near good. Crowd was hot! And it was cool seeing Jeff in singles action. That’s about it though. Jeff took a falcon arrow which was nutty. Swanton bomb ends it and Jeff advances thank the lord. I’m dying to see Jeff/Darby in the tournament itself. 

Match rating - ** 

THEY AIR THE EPIC LEGENDARY REGAL BCC PROMO FROM “ROAD TO” IN ROUTE TO OUR NEXT MATCH 

2) Jon Moxley, Bryan Danielson, & Wheeler Yuta vs. Angelico, The Butcher, & The Blade 

NOW WE GET SOME GOOD SHIT. Butch & Blade deserve this match even though the outcome is obvious. Angelico is making TV for the first time in forever which is cool. The Andrade office boys jump BCC during Moxley’s entrance. They end up isolating Yuta and Yuta hits an awesome german on Butcher during his comeback. Moxley gets the hot tag and Jesus Christ man.. the dude just rules. He kicks Blade’s ass all around ringside and flips a table over. It’s not long before we are in the classic BCC finishing sequence with them locking every member in for the elbows followed by submissions for the win. 

Match rating - ***

Backstage, Jurassic Express accepts Ricky Starks & Powerhouse Hobbs’ tag title challenge. BUT Jungle Boy wants Starks for the FTW Title next week first. 

AEW: Rampage Review - April 15th, 2022

AEW Rampage 

April 15th, 2022

Garland, Texas

AEW World Champion: Hangman Adam Page (since 11/13/21)

AEW World Tag Team Champions: Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus (since 1/5/22)

AEW Women’s World Champion: Thunder Rosa (since 3/16/22)

AEW TBS Champion: Jade Cargill (since 1/5/22)

AEW TNT Champion: Scorpio Sky (since 3/9/22)

Commentators - Excalibur, Taz, Ricky Starks & William Regal

ITS A LIVE 7PM EDITION OF RAMPAGE

1) Blackpool Combat Club (Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley, & Wheeler Yuta) (w/ William Regal) vs. The Gunn Club (Billy, Austin, & Colten Gunn) 

AEW: Rampage Review - April 8th, 2022

AEW Rampage 

April 8th, 2022 

Boston, MA

AEW World Champion: Hangman Adam Page (since 11/13/21)

AEW World Tag Team Champions: Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus (since 1/5/22)

AEW Women’s World Champion: Thunder Rosa (since 3/16/22)

AEW TBS Champion: Jade Cargill (since 1/5/22)

AEW TNT Champion: Scorpio Sky (since 3/9/22)

Commentators - Excalibur, Jim Ross, & Tony Schiavone 

1) Bryan Danielson vs. Trent Beretta 

William Regal joined commentary for this one. Loud, strong “you’re gonna get your fucking head kicked in” chants to start. The strongest since Danielson debuted in AEW which is sick. Good wrestling for the first few minutes with Danielson targeting Trent’s neck. A sick saito suplex on the floor from Trent to Danielson sends us to break. Trent fights from under after the break with a super plex and a release german for a nearfall. Danielson fires back with a shoulder capture suplex for a two count. They run back and forth with big moves for the final few minutes. Danielson hits the running knee and stomps Trent’s head in before wrenching back on his head and twisting it for the referee stoppage. Another dominant performance from Danielson and Trent put in a super solid singles effort as he always does when given the chance. 

Match rating - ***1/2

Backstage, HOOK is approached for an interview again. He still has nothing to say and goes to leave the room when Danhausen pops out of the trash can. Hausen eats the chips that Hook tossed in the can and says “maybe this is where he gets his powers” LMAO. 

2) Swerve Strickland vs. QT Marshall 

This was a throwaway match. It’s nice seeing Swerve, but there isn’t much to write home about. An easy way to get him on the show and put him over a name who’s been around since the start of AEW, but I barely even paid this any attention. Swerve wins and yeah. 

Match rating - *3/4

At some point around this time, Excalibur runs down matches for Dynamite next week and CASUALLY announces Samoa Joe challenging Minoru Suzuki for the ROH TV Title. WHAT THE FUCK. Dream match any day of the week and I cannot fucking wait. 

3) Willow Nightingale vs. Red Velvet - Women’s Owen Hart Memorial Cup Qualifier 

Willow tried. Red Velvet should not have won this, and the match itself even told that story. Nightingale is clearly the better competitor and was the only thing that held this match together. Unfortunately, Velvet wins and gets an undeserving spot in the women’s portion of the Owen cup. A much more enjoyable story would’ve been Willow getting the shocking victory and tournament entry despite not being signed and then using this big loss to run a rehabilitating Red Velvet story if you insist on keeping her on TV. This was predictable and not in a good way. Great effort and performance from Willow, though. 

Match rating - **1/4

4) Jon Moxley vs. Wheeler Yuta 

Wow… I’m almost just at a loss for words. The greatest match in the short history of Rampage and one of the best matches in the history of AEW. And the fact that it was filmed on the same night as FTR/Bucks is just insane. A true testament to how special the run AEW is on is. This is a story that began developing before our eyes long before we even realized it. This is the third match between Mox and Yuta. The first two were fine, but it wasn’t until the last few weeks and this match in particular, that the full story came together right in front of us. Moxley absolutely pummels Yuta and Yuta refuses to die. Amazing facial expressions, his blade job was awesome— who knew Yuta was a grade a gusher? This just checked all the boxes. The blood and fire from Yuta was enough, then they threw in some crazy false finishes at the end. Yuta kicked out of TWO paradigm shift’s which I don’t think anyone ever expected. The crowd was biting on every single bit of this and I was too. In an era where AEW has been around a few years and a small bit of the luster from their first crop of top stars is beginning to wear off, a new breed has began to rise and Yuta is the first to ascend to that new level. This match will be remembered for years and years to come. After the match, we get an equally phenomenal moment as William Regal & Bryan Danielson come to the ring. After a staredown and Yuta asking for more as he still gushes blood, Regal shakes his hand. Yuta uses his own blood to write BCC on his chest and when the show goes off air, Danielson attaches the ROH Pure Title around his waist.. TALK ABOUT THE TORCH BEING PASSED HOLY FUCK WHAT A MOMENT. As the show goes off air, Mox tells Yuta “now the real work begins”.. my god. This was epic. 

Match rating - ****3/4

AEW: Dynamite Review - April 6th, 2022

AEW Dynamite 

April 6th, 2022

Boston, MA

AEW World Champion: Hangman Adam Page (since 11/13/21)

AEW World Tag Team Champions: Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus (since 1/5/22)

AEW Women’s World Champion: Thunder Rosa (since 3/16/22)

AEW TBS Champion: Jade Cargill (since 1/5/22)

AEW TNT Champion: Scorpio Sky (since 3/9/22)

Commentators - Excalibur, Jim Ross, & Tony Schiavone 

Pyro blows off and the crowd goes nuts. We are live, motherfuckers. 

1) Adam Cole vs. Christian Cage

First time ever meeting here. Christian seems to keep Cole from having too much of a case of NXT brain as his bad habits don’t take the forefront like the Lethal match did the other week. It felt like a 2013 Christian TV match which is not at all a bad thing. If anything, it was nostalgic. But even better because this crowd was hot as fuck. So, yeah. They work a good pace then hit some big nearfalls near the end that the crowd loses their shit for completely. In the end, Cole wins and I’ll let Tony tell the rest..

Match rating - ***

“The termites are out.” -Tony Schiavone 

After the match, ReDragon runs down to attack Christian. Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus hit the ring to a huge pop to make the save. Hangman Page ends up coming out once everyone clears out to try and get his hands on Cole AND IT FUCKING RULES. He smushes Cole in the face and they go nose to nose. Page says if Cole wants a title match, he will get it on a live Rampage next week in Texas in a.. TEXAS DEATHMATCH. FUCKKK. Hanger just loves to bleed, man. I swear. This segment felt huge though. Hangman really continues to dig his teeth into his run as THE guy and he’s killing it. 

2) Samoa Joe vs. Max Caster (w/ Anthony Bowens)

AEW: Dynamite Review - March 23rd, 2022

AEW Dynamite

March 23rd, 2022

Austin, Texas 

AEW World Champion: Hangman Adam Page (since 11/13/21)

AEW World Tag Team Champions: Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus (since 1/5/22)

AEW Women’s World Champion: Thunder Rosa (since 3/16/22)

AEW TBS Champion: Jade Cargill (since 1/5/22)

AEW TNT Champion: Scorpio Sky (since 3/9/22)

Commentators - Excalibur, Jim Ross, & Tony Schiavone

1) CM Punk vs. Dax Harwood 

These two having this match to open the show is so refreshing. Everyone jokes about it being a Bret Hart tribute match, but that just makes me love it even more. This is Punk’s first match and appearance since the classic dog collar match at Revolution a few weeks ago. I’m a massive fan of the Punk/FTR pairing so I was immediately glued to this and they made me love it even more once things got going. Just classic, traditional pro wrestling with no frills or flashy things. They throw some nice counters in down the stretch including an awesome GTS counter from Dax. This rocked. Punk wins after quite the back & forth. 

Match rating - ***3/4

Backstage, the Jericho Appreciation Society is here. Jericho stumbles through a promo about Silver & Reynolds. Garcia & 2.0 crush their lines. Hager stands there looking dumb. They point out that they ran off Santana, Ortiz, & Eddie Kingston as we haven’t seen them in recent weeks. Guess that means we might get a run-in tonight! 

2) Darby Allin, Sting, Jeff Hardy, & Matt Hardy vs. Private Party, The Butcher, & The Blade 

AEW: Dynamite Review - March 16th, 2022 (ST PATRICKS DAY SLAM 2022)

AEW Dynamite

St Patrick’s Day Slam

March 16th, 2022

San Antonio, TX

AEW World Champion: Hangman Adam Page (since 11/13/21)

AEW World Tag Team Champions: Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus (since 1/5/22)

AEW Women’s World Champion: Britt Baker (since 5/30/21)

AEW TBS Champion: Jade Cargill (since 1/5/22)

AEW TNT Champion: Scorpio Sky (since 3/9/22)

Commentators: Excalibur, Jim Ross, & Tony Schiavone

We are on the anniversary of one of the most historic women’s matches in the history of pro wrestling and the same two women meet on this night for round three in a Steel Cage!!

1) “Hangman” Adam Page, Jungle Boy, & Luchasaurus vs. Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly, & Bobby Fish 

“And here comes THE champion.. THE man.” -Jim Ross on Hangman Page

AEW: Dynamite Review - March 9th, 2022

AEW Dynamite 

March 9th, 2022

Fort Myers, Florida

AEW World Champion: Hangman Adam Page (since 11/13/21)

AEW World Tag Team Champions: Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus (since 1/5/22)

AEW Women’s World Champion: Britt Baker (since 5/30/21)

AEW TBS Champion: Jade Cargill (since 1/5/22)

AEW TNT Champion: Sammy Guevara (since 1/26/22)

Commentators - Excalibur, Jim Ross, & Tony Schiavone 

Chris Jericho begins the show with his thoughts on Eddie Kingston after his loss to him on Sunday at Revolution. Jericho looks young and sympathetic for once tonight.. I don’t know what he did differently. But yeah, he says he wants Eddie to come out so he can shake his hand because he respects the hell out of him for giving him one of the best matches of entire his career. Eddie comes out and says before they say anything, he wants it to be clear that he didn’t go into the match Sunday with anyone in mind, but the 4 people he met at Fan Fest the day before that said his players tribune interview saved their life. King said he didn’t want to shake Jericho’s hand on Sunday for him, he put his hand out for Jericho because he knows there’s something missing in there that caused him not to shake his hand. Jericho says he really just wants to thank and show respect to Eddie so they shake hands. 2.0 & Daniel Garcia run down and attack them both, but mainly Eddie. Santana & Ortiz run down for the save and JERICHO TURNS ON THEM AND BEAT THEM WITH A BAT. Some stuff shots in there too. This kinda fucking rules. Jake Hager is out next, he teases dissension with Jericho only to plow over Santana & Ortiz and maintain his alignment with Jericho. Hager power bombs Kingston off the apron through a table and it is NASTY. Hager, Jericho, 2.0 & Garcia do the Inner Circle middle finger pose. This angle fucking ruled and of course Jericho gives this new group a corny ass name.. “the Jericho appreciation society” … ima just pretend that part didn’t happen because otherwise this was awesome. Just call it Inner Circle 2.0 or something, dammit. 

A video package airs on CM Punk’s victory over MJF at Revolution. Punk says if people thought they wanted the old Punk back, they should think again. 

1) “Hangman” Adam Page (c) vs. Dante Martin - AEW World Championship Match 

AEW: Revolution 2022 Review - March 6th, 2022

AEW Revolution 

Match 6th, 2022

Orlando, Florida

AEW World Champion: Hangman Adam Page (since 11/13/21)

AEW World Tag Team Champions: Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus (since 1/5/22)

AEW Women’s World Champion: Britt Baker (since 5/30/21)

AEW TBS Champion: Jade Cargill (since 1/5/22)

AEW TNT Champion: Sammy Guevara (since 1/26/22)

Commentators - Excalibur, Jim Ross, & Tony Schiavone 

Last night, I had a bunch of friends over for what turned out to be one of the greatest wrestling PPV’s of all time. LETS GET INTO IT. 

Pre-Show / THE BUY IN: 

1) Kris Statlander vs. Leyla Hirsch 

I’m very glad these women got this chance. Although the feud has come off as a back burner thing, I’m thankful AEW has tried to put in effort and keep it going. PLUS, the ladies have killed it, even in the promo pre-tapes. I complain a lot about the booking of the women’s division, but this show has three women’s matches in total so that’s a step forward. Plus, this one doesn’t even involve a total. So, yes, very promising. And to no ones surprise, or not mine at least, this roooocks. Lots of good grappling early on. Leyla goes after the arm of Stat and sticks with it. Leyla is really and truly SOOO good. Stat sells it well. They stick with the story and hit some sick spots. Including some crazy ones on the apron and floor. In the end, even with the awesome limb work, Leyla can’t put Kris away so she resorts to using a turnbuckle bar from under the ring when the ref was distracted. This doesn’t get her the win immediately, but it leads her to it. I liked this match, a lot. I think both women came out of this looking better than they did going in as we got to see their roles & characters accentuated with how the match was booked. 

Match rating - ***

2) HOOK vs. QT Marshall 

AEW: Rampage Review - February 18th, 2022

AEW Rampage : SLAM DUNK 

February 18th, 2022

Nashville, Tennessee 

AEW World Champion: Hangman Adam Page (since 11/13/21)

AEW World Tag Team Champions: Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus (since 1/5/22)

AEW Women’s World Champion: Britt Baker (since 5/30/21)

AEW TBS Champion: Jade Cargill (since 1/5/22)

AEW TNT Champion: Sammy Guevara (since 1/26/22)

Commentators - Excalibur, Taz, Chris Jericho & Ricky Starks 

DAMN I WISH RAMPAGE WAS ON AT 7PM INSTEAD OF 10PM EVERY WEEK 

1) Adam Cole vs. 10

Adam Cole has become almost a guarantee for opening Rampage every week. I enjoyed this match more than a lot of his recent Rampage singles matches. Maybe because the dynamic is different for once. Not that Evil Uno or Silver are bad, but they all fall in the same vein as Cole as far as wrestling style go. I still don’t know all that much about 10, but he’s a big guy.. powerhouse if you will. So, in my head and eyes, it creates a more interesting match because of the dynamic. Although, 10 didn’t really do himself any favors with the awkward tossing of the security on Dynamite on Wednesday. None the less, this was solid and I enjoyed it. 10 gets some power spots in and Cole does what he usually does. A completely suffice outing that had some story behind it bridging from Dynamite which made you wanna see it unfold. Cole wins a good opener.

Match rating - **3/4 

Punk/MJF video package airs. 

2) Dante Martin vs. Powerhouse Hobbs 

AEW: Dynamite Review - February 9th, 2021

AEW Dynamite 

February 9th, 2022

Atlantic City, New Jersey 

AEW World Champion: Hangman Adam Page (since 11/13/21)

AEW World Tag Team Champions: Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus (since 1/5/22)

AEW Women’s World Champion: Britt Baker (since 5/30/21)

AEW TBS Champion: Jade Cargill (since 1/5/22)

AEW TNT Champion: Sammy Guevara (since 1/26/22)

Commentators: Excalibur, Jim Ross, & Tony Schiavone

The show begins with Wardlow coming to the ring. He has cardboard cutouts of MJF and CM Punk. He hands Justin Roberts a note with a disgruntled look on his face. The note is a script for how MJF, FTR (w/ Tully Blanchard), and Shawn Spears are introduced to the ring. It’s pretty great stuff and the heat is immense. Everyone got their own entrance, but Wardlow. MJF is carried out on a chair / throne thing with people holding him up. He makes out with one of the women for like 30 seconds. He jumps in the ring and celebrates with The Pinnacle as Wardlow watches on. MJF says he’s the best wrestler in the world and after last week, he’s better than the best in the world. Lots of bragging and shitty comments like usual and it’s great. CM Punk walks onto the stage and says he learned his lesson and he’s not coming out here alone anymore. Darby Allin and Sting walk out to join him. All three of them have bats and Punk says MJF can give him a rematch or he can come beat it out of him right now. MJF makes excuses as to why he can’t and Punk tries to coax Wardlow into turning on the Pinnacle because he’s the only reason any of them win any matches. Dax Harwood speaks up and says Punk, Darby & Sting should be asking for a rematch against them from last December. OK LETS GO. Punk says they’re down for it, but MJF speaks up because of course he doesn’t wanna be involved so MJF pitches the wager —- Punk can get his rematch, but only if he & a partner of his choosing that isn’t Darby or Sting can defeat FTR TONIGHT. OH MY GOD. AEW doesn’t run these type of angles often and with the rumors swirling about tonight, I AM SO FUCKING STOKed to see who Punk picks. I hope it’s Samoa Joe. AHHHHH !!!

Backstage, Andrade El Idolo runs into Darby Allin & Sting. Andrade says he’s happy to have finally found Darby’s boss. Darby says his focus isn’t on him, it’s on the TNT title. Andrade says that’s funny because he wants to be TNT Champion, too..

1) Wardlow (w/ Shawn Spears) vs. The Blade

AEW: Rampage Review - February 4th, 2022

AEW Rampage

February 4th, 2022

Chicago, Illinois 

AEW World Champion: Hangman Adam Page (since 11/13/21)

AEW World Tag Team Champions: Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus (since 1/5/22)

AEW Women’s World Champion: Britt Baker (since 5/30/21)

AEW TBS Champion: Jade Cargill (since 1/5/22)

AEW TNT Champion: Sammy Guevara (since 1/26/22)

Commentators: Excalibur, Chris Jericho, Taz, & Ricky Starks 

1) Adam Cole vs. Evil Uno 

Uno gets the jobber entrance :/ aka no entrance. But WHATEVER. We know he’s a king. This doesn’t go long at all, though and he doesn’t look so good as a result. That sucks. This was basically just Cole hitting all his stuff on Uno and winning in less than 2-3 minutes. 

Match rating - *3/4

AEW: Dynamite Review - February 2nd, 2022

AEW Dynamite

February 2nd, 2022

Chicago, IL - Wintrust Arena

AEW World Champion: Hangman Adam Page (since 11/13/21)

AEW World Tag Team Champions: Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus (since 1/5/22)

AEW Women’s World Champion: Britt Baker (since 5/30/21)

AEW TBS Champion: Jade Cargill (since 1/5/22)

AEW TNT Champion: Sammy Guevara (since 1/26/22)

Commentators: Excalibur, Jim Ross, & Tony Schiavone

1) Jon Moxley vs. Wheeler Yuta

Yuta is replacing Brian Kendrick. Kendrick was supposed to make his AEW debut tonight, just 24 hours after receiving his requested WWE release. Then, everyone discovered that he’s a Holocaust denying nut job so TK pulled him from this show and rightfully so. Fuck that shit. This is built off of Mox squashing Yuta last fall. Here, Yuta charges Mox with a drop kick at the bell and misses, but avoids a lot of offense from Mox early. Yuta gets a good bit in here and looks awesome before Moxley puts him away with some elbows (a message to Bryan Danielson) followed by the paradigm shift DDT.

Match rating - **1/2

After the match, Bryan Danielson shows up. We all thought Danielson wanted to fight Moxley, BUUUUT Danielson says he actually wants to team with Mox. Bryan says there’s no reason a millennial cowboy should be world champion. No reason a dinosaur should be tag team champion. And no reason a vlogger should be TNT Champion. Danielson says they could run this place together and maybe even bring up a group of guys like Yuta, Daniel Garcia, and Lee Moriarty and train them to be the future of pro wrestling. Bryan offers Mox a handshake, but Mox is torn and just stand there. Bryan says he will give him time to think about it then leaves. Wild Thing plays as Mox stands there. I’m not particularly interested in a Mox/Danielson team actually being a thing, but I like the spin they are putting on this program and I hope 

AEW: Dynamite Review - January 26th, 2022 (BEACH BREAK)

AEW Beach Break 2022

January 26th, 2022

Cleveland, Ohio

AEW World Champion: Hangman Adam Page (since 11/13/21)

AEW World Tag Team Champions: Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus (since 1/5/22)

AEW Women’s World Champion: Britt Baker (since 5/30/21)

AEW TBS Champion: Jade Cargill (since 1/5/22)

AEW TNT Champion: Cody Rhodes (since 12/25/21)

Commentators: Excalibur, Jim Ross, & Tony Schiavone

1) Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Sammy Guevara (c) - Ladder Match for the TNT Championship 

This is to “unify” the interim TNT title and the real one that Cody holds. After a month or two of being insignificant, both of these guys proceeded to absolutely show the fuck out here. The first truly great match on Dynamite this year since Hangman/Danielson and after a rewatch, I feel ashamed not giving this a flat 4 stars and going with ***3/4 on the Up & Over Live Review we did after the show. So now, here I stand, a few days later rectifying my tragic quarter star mistake. This rocked. Sammy’s springboard flying cutter thing off the ladder.. you know what I’m talking about, fucking blew my mind and will be replayed for years and years to come.. honestly as long as AEW exists. Good job, guys, you saved what was a terrible feud and title reign for the both of you. Now, Sammy just needs to keep this energy so this second reign is better than his first which was arguably the worst of any TNT title reign so far. So yeah, this was a great, great match. Sammy wins aaaaaaand yea!

Match rating - **** 

2) Wardlow vs. Elijah Dean & James Alexander 

AEW: Rampage Review - January 14th, 2022

AEW Rampage 

January 14th, 2022

Raleigh, North Carolina

Commentators: Excalibur, Tazz, Chris Jericho & Ricky Starks 

1) Adam Cole (w/ Britt Baker, The Young Bucks, Brandon Cutler, & ReDragon) vs. Trent? Beretta (w/ Chuck Taylor, Orange Cassidy, Kris Statlander, & Wheeler Yuta) 

Dear god there are so many people ringside for this. It makes sense given the feud, but it’s just wild. It’s worth noting Nick Jackson is wearing a mesh top.. foreshadowing Jeff Hardy, are we? None the less, match itself here goes about how you’d expect. Cole gets the advantage early off distractions from his unit at ringside. This pairing is one we saw a decent bit in PWG so we know they have chemistry. Cole goes for a Panama Sunrise on the floor and eats a backdrop for his troubles. Trent charges Cole, but ends up going head first into the railing. Bump looked sick. This sends us to commercial. Back from commercial and they trade big moves for 5 minutes or so before The Last Shot from Cole ends it. I’m just not into the majority of the matches this Best Friends/Super Kliq-Adam Cole unit has delivered. I didn’t care for the trios match on the last Dynamite of December and this match felt about the same for me. Just.. stuff. I think Cole/Cassidy and Bucks/ReDragon will be great, but the road to it has been very dull match quality wise. Nothing wrong with this, just nothing all that great either. Best thing for me was seeing Trent back and throwing suplexes. Hell yeah. He is so underrated in singles and it’s honestly where I prefer him. Get him out of this feud and run him a TNT Title match and reign. Would be a blast. 

Match rating - **1/2

2) Shawn Spears vs. Andrew Everett