All Elite Wrestling: Dynamite: Dynamite 6/28 and Rampage 6/30

June 28, 2023 4:40 PM - Season 4, Episode 39

With the second Forbidden Door now in the record books, AEW enters the Owen Hart Cup and prepares for it's rumored selling-out of Wembley Stadium one month away. New matches to be built, some injuries to be reckoned with, and at least one heel turn coming in hot.

The announced card for tonight:

* The Young Bucks and “Hangman” Adam Page will be in a trios match against unnamed opponents

* We will hear from AEW World Champion MJF and his Blind Tag Team Tournament partner Adam Cole, and more pairings for the Blind Tag Team Tournament will be revealed

* Tomohiro Ishii vs. Jon Moxley

Ishii is one-third of the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship, and a fireplug of a man besides. Moxley wants revenge for Ishii pinning Wheeler Yuta at Forbidden Door.

* Women’s Owen Hart Memorial Tournament Quarterfinal Match: Dr. Britt Baker DMD vs. Ruby Soho

* We will hear from “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry

Hopefully Jack will channel all the acting skills he possesses to cut the "you people" promo of his life, and then get interrupted by Taz, who's very angry about Perry blindsiding his son Hook. (He even took his shades off!)

* Trios match: Daniel Garcia, "Daddy Magic" Matt Menard & "Cool Hand" Angelo Parker (The J.A.S.) vs. Orange Cassidy, Keith Lee and El Hijo del Vikingo

Orange Cassidy booked his trios partners in the most Orange Cassidy way possible.

* Tornado Tag Team Match: Sting and Darby Allin vs. “The Painmaker” Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara

Sammy let me down by not turning on Jericho at the PPV, but maybe he makes it up to me tonight.

posted by The Pluto Gangsta (10 comments total)

I won my side bet on whether Eddie Kingston would show up to Jon Moxley's match, and my compliments to the cameraman and back-of-house producer who decided to constantly film shots of Kingston and Claudio staring daggers at each other incessantly from across the ring.

A real five-star match, with Ishii busting open Moxley's forehead for reals and then just not letting up, giving Jon a crimson mask and then letting him have it with both elbows and lots of strikes. I still don't believe Moxley will actually take a pinfall loss in 2023, but it momentarily made me believe.

And then the melodrama! Moxley stomps backstage, conflicted at receiving actual positive reinforcement, and Eddie follows him out to profess his love, Moxley actually says he doesn't care about CHIKARA anymore?!? And that finally sets Eddie off, forcing Reneé to get between them. I love all this melodrama, best 30 minutes of pro-wrestling in months.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 5:38 PM on June 28, 2023 [1 favorite]

The trios match was a showcase for everything that makes Keith Lee great: his preternatural toughness, his comedy spots, his freakish strength.

Also Sammy Guevara has gotten his dick dance over, and he knows it, so like a true heel he's gonna keep doing it until we're all sick of it.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 5:53 PM on June 28, 2023

In a more comedic melodrama, the Dark Order is sick of Hangman choosing the Elite over them, so now they've decided to crash promos and heel it up. If they actually go for the gimmick of the Dark Order trying to be fearsome heels again and just being awful at it, I'd be so up for that.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 6:00 PM on June 28, 2023 [1 favorite]

Tag-team melodrama is clearly the order of the day, the whole Dark Order/Elite match was an affair very reminiscent of a PWG show. Until the BCC come out to beat some more red stuff out of the Elite and challenge them to Blood & Guts in three weeks, and Moxley gives that sad look backwards at Eddie....
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 6:22 PM on June 28, 2023

Britt Baker apparently caught whatever mystery illness kept Adam Cole out of Forbidden Door, which gave Ruby the opportunity to cut a wicked mean-girl promo on her and her boyfriend and their potential "weak-ass" future children.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 6:38 PM on June 28, 2023

This tornado match is only given about 10 minutes, so all the spots had to be doubled up. Sting, like an insane person, chose to do the table spot onto Sammy Guevara and banged his face on Sammy's knee, while Darby's going massive coffin drops and skateboard spots and tumbling down everywhere.

I'm watching Sting and Chris Jericho pound on each other while the Hulu picture-in-picture has the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in a Pizza Hut spot, like this is some fever dream 1996.

Apparently Sting told the crowd post-show that he busted open his lip and might lose a tooth. Same guy who said that All Out at Wembley won't be his final match.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 7:22 PM on June 28, 2023

Apparently Sting told the crowd post-show that he busted open his lip and might lose a tooth. Same guy who said that All Out at Wembley won't be his final match.

I mean, today IS the anniversary of the Hell in a Cell match between Undertaker and Mankind, so it seems fitting.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 10:19 PM on June 28, 2023

Also Sammy Guevara has gotten his dick dance over, and he knows it, so like a true heel he's gonna keep doing it until we're all sick of it.

WTF, past me! I meant Daniel Garcia, not Sammy Guevara, of course.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 6:01 AM on June 29, 2023

Moxley actually says he doesn't care about CHIKARA anymore?!?

I read that less as "I don't care about CHIKARA" and more as "You're mad about stuff that happened so long ago that the place where it happened doesn't even exist anymore, so get over it, bro."
posted by Etrigan at 9:09 AM on June 29, 2023

One thing that AEW does consistently better than WWE: When Jack Perry ran away in terror, he fucking ran.
posted by Etrigan at 10:46 AM on June 29, 2023 [2 favorites]