All Elite Wrestling: Dynamite: AEW Dynamite: October 23, 2021 (and Rampage from 10/22)

October 23, 2021 11:53 AM - Season 3, Episode 3

Dropping this one in before Dynamite tonight because the schedule is still altered due to the sports on Wednesdays, so Rampage aired yesterday.

The card from yesterday's AEW Rampage:

-- Orange Cassidy vs. Powerhouse Hobbs
-- Anna Jay (of The Dark Order) vs. Dr. Britt Baker, DMD
-- PAC vs. Andrade El Idolo

Announced ahead of time for Dynamite :

-- Malakai Black vs. Cody Rhodes -- their third match
-- World Title Eliminator Tournament Round 1: Dustin Rhodes vs. Bryan Danielson
-- World Title Eliminator Tournament Round 1: Lance Archer vs. Eddie Kingston
-- TBS Championship Tournament Round 1: Penelope Ford vs. Ruby Soho
-- Jungle Boy vs. Brandon Cutler

posted by The Pluto Gangsta (5 comments total)

Notes on Rampage:

-- Different from the usual Cassidy match, instead of dodging attacks he took quite a bit more offense, especially some attacks to his back and sides by Hobbs. However, Cassidy getting the win using his Mousetrap finisher is great, it makes him seem like some crazy grappling master the way he just steps into Hobbs' knee and traps him in a pin. Work smarter, not harder.

-- Penta El Cero Miedo came out with Alex Abrahantes, supposedly to do an interview in the ring with Tony Schiavone but actually to get suckered into a surprise attack by FTR. Last week FTR took away the AAA World Tag Team Championships away from the Lucha Bros via shenanigans, and it looks like they'll come for their AEW titles next.

-- Anna Jay has improved in the ring following recovery from her injury. She and Britt had a match with a surprising amount of old school mat-based wrestling. Smooth transitions into moves, I didn't get the sense that either of the two women was waiting for the other to figure out choreography. Tay Conti coming out to save Anna from the post-match beatdown cements her as one of AEW's top women babyfaces, who will probably face Britt next for her title while Ruby Soho chases the TBS title.

(Also, I'm a hetero male and Tay Conti's look tonight was... it was great. She's great.)

-- PAC vs Andrade was just as nuts as you'd expect a match between these two, like a competition to see who can do the HIGHEST high spot. PAC makes a beautiful moonsault to the outside, later Andrade hits a no-look tornado crossbody to the outside. PAC dodges a slingshot dropkick on the apron, so later Andrade hits with a jumping DDT to the apron. PAC makes an avalanche brainbuster from the top turnbuckle, and Andrade gets the win hitting a poison huracanrana, followed by...

-- Malachai Black making the lights go dark (which definitely makes him LAWFUL evil, as he stuck to Tony Khan's rule about everyone barred from ringside during the match) to spit green mist in PAC's face and then he tried to walk off, only to be interrupted by Arn Anderson providing a distraction for the returning, less ostentatious Cody to extract some punishment from Black and set up tonight's match.

-- I personally liked Cody as a full-of-himself-yet-still-babyface performer, but I get that his two defeats from Black set him up for his "toughening up" under the training of Anderson and the rest of the Nightmare Family. Good payoff to all that.

-- Someone on the internet pointed out that between PAC, Andrade, and Malakai Black, AEW had three former NXT Champions in the ring. Three guys that Vince McMahon thought couldn't be main eventers at his company. Three guys he passed up, fiddled with, ignored and finally shoved out the door. Turns out NXT was a great developmental league... just for a different company.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 12:12 PM on October 23, 2021 [2 favorites]

I don't know how I made this error, but somehow I did: PAC won the main event, not Andrade, although Andrade's poison rana was still real good.

I guess I got thrown off by Malakai making his entrance immediately after the bell was rung.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 7:40 PM on October 23, 2021

Wait, PAC won?! I completely misunderstood how that match ended!
posted by cadge at 5:39 PM on October 24, 2021

I know! I think what threw me is that Malakai Black made the lights go out immediately after the three count was complete. But yes, on rewatch PAC got the quick roll-up.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 5:55 AM on October 26, 2021

Welp, I'll take it! I love PAC!
posted by cadge at 8:32 AM on October 26, 2021