CommentaryFTC Record
Review: 10/14 AEW Dynamite and Collision: good matches, predictable results
Max Caliendo offers must-read commentary ahead of tonight's WrestleDream on pay-per-view.
By Max Caliendo
Before I delve into my first review for the FTC Record Online, I’d like to handle some housekeeping matters.
First, for those unfamiliar with AEW, or perhaps Professional Wrestling as a whole, they have two weekly shows that I will be reviewing. Their primary show, which takes place on Wednesdays, is “Dynamite”, and their secondary show, which typically takes place on Saturdays, is “Collision”. It should be noted that Collision’s time slot frequently moves when preempted on TNT by other sports or larger pay-per-views that take place on the weekends. That is the case for this week, where I’m reviewing both at once. Around the middle or end of each month, a bigger show called a pay-per-view takes place on the weekends, which I will also be reviewing.
Second, none of these weekly reviews are intended to insult the character of those involved. I have nothing but respect and admiration for the athletes who put their bodies on the line for our entertainment. These reviews are given with that in mind.
Now, on with the review:
AEW has been trying to steady a very unsteady ship since their September pay-per-view “All Out”, although it’s hardly their fault. The twin tragedies of “The Butcher” Andy Williams and “The Bastard, PAC” Benjamin Satterley have rushed several storyline developments, to the point that the upcoming pay-per-view event, WrestleDream, on October 17th feels underhyped. Nevertheless, after the truly remarkable episode of Dynamite, “Grand Slam: Paris,” a week ago, it’s up to this show in Cleveland, Ohio, to carry us into WrestleDream on a high note.
PART 1: DYNAMITE
The show kicks off with a three-on-three tag team match, with the Death Riders taking on the Don Callis Family.
For those unaware of tag team match rules, one man from each team starts the match, with the legal participant being able to “tag out” to a different teammate as they stand in their respective corner. The winning team must pin or submit the legal member of their opponent’s team.
Tonight’s Death Riders team consisted of their leader and one of the company’s biggest stars, Jon Moxley, along with two of his protégés, Daniel Garcia and Gabe Kidd. The Death Riders used to be ruthless “heels” [or bad guys], using ruthless tactics and group beatdowns to further their mission of making AEW better. However, due to the real-life and tragic passing of PAC, a key member of the group, they’ve since become “babyfaces” [or good guys]. Jon Moxley leads the group with gusto, a general leading his army into battle, with himself at the front of the charge. Daniel Garcia is the lovable dork of the group, coming off as a Jon Moxley wannabe while still giving it his all. Gabe Kidd is, as he describes himself, a madman. He’s pretty average in my opinion.
The Don Callis Family consists of three of their biggest guys: Mark Davis, Jake Doyle, and Wardlow. The Don Callis Family is a bit easier to explain; they’re a group of heels held together by their maniacal and cunning leader, “The Invisible Hand” Don Callis. There’s somewhere between 12 and 15 members of the group right now, I believe, which for wrestling is a pretty large group. Get used to hearing that name, because they are EVERYWHERE on this show and basically every AEW show for the last year or so. I see no reason to stop it either; they’re a very entertaining act. The three in this match are around the middle of the pack in terms of importance, with the most important, as of writing, being Mark Davis, who’s scheduled to face Jon Moxley for Moxley’s Continental Championship at WrestleDream.
I thought this match was one of the best of the night. The best part of it, as usual for what he’s in, is Jon Moxley. He has this weird body language when he’s in the ring, moving his body about in a manner which me and friends dub “The Wiggles”, but it translates on camera as really stunning physical charisma. His presence also elevates the match he’s in simply due to his stature. Unfortunately, two parts hold it down: Gabe Kidd and Wardlow. Gabe has a tendency to overact, coming off more silly & camp than the seriousness that the Death Riders are meant to showcase. I know I said Daniel is a lovable dork, but that’s an intentional decision on their part, while Gabe is supposed to be playing it straight. It’s simply not for me. Wardlow is just a case of the character being stale after years of injuries and stalled momentum. Not his fault, but it makes his inclusion kind of meaningless for me when he’s done hardly anything since 2024. Nevertheless, they don’t sour the punchbowl too much, mainly due to one reason: a shocking result. Mark Davis actually manages to get the pin on Jon Moxley to get himself a win for his team after his Doctor-Bomb Piledriver, and added momentum before his singles match with Mox. As we’ll see throughout this review, a surprising result is a gift. It elevates this match to be greater than the sum of its parts.
RATING: 4.50/5.00 Stars.
We carry on immediately after a commercial break with our first singles match on offer, “The Rated-R Superstar” Adam Copeland squaring off with another Don Callis Family member, “The Walking Weapon” Josh Alexander, to qualify for the “Clockwork Carnage” match at Wrestledream.
Now, I hear you ask, what is a Clockwork Carnage match, and why are these two fighting to qualify for it? Well, truth be told, I’m not going to get into it. I don’t want to. I will for my WrestleDream review, but for this review, all you need to know is that it’s an 8-man match for the AEW Men’s World Championship. If you win the qualifying match, you have a shot at the biggest prize there is, currently held by Will Ospreay. There are five on offering tonight, all of which have… let’s just say some lopsided odds. For instance, Adam Copeland is a 30-year veteran with several world titles under his belt when he was known as “Edge” in WWE, and has won several other titles in AEW already. Josh Alexander, while being a very accomplished wrestler in his own right and basically in his prime, has never won a championship in AEW and has mainly been a middle-of-the-card guy. I wonder who’s going to win?
I was hoping this match would give me some joy as I waited for the inevitable result, and for a while it did. In wrestling, you’ll find that two Canadians struggle to have a truly bad match. Josh Alexander is the kind of wrestler I like: a technically & psychologically sound “grappler” who uses a lot of holds and limb attacks over the course of a match. Alexander focused on his leg in order to set him up for his most critical hold, the “Ankle Lock,” and I thought the way he went about it was exceptional. Copeland is old [if the “30-year veteran” description didn’t say it already, he’s knocking on 60], but he keeps up with Josh for the bout. Unfortunately, no amount of cool leg targeting can save this from the fact that the finish was never in doubt, even with the cheating Josh Alexander employed to try & get the victory. Copeland inevitably hit his trademark tackle, the “Spear”, onto Alexander for the three-count. I really wanted to like this match, but as it is, it’ll have to settle for average.
RATING: 3.50/5.00 Stars.
After the match, Adam Copeland gets on the microphone for what’s known in wrestling as a “Promo,” where wrestlers get in the ring to talk to the live audience. Copeland reveals that at All Out, his tag team partner/best friend/friend/enemy/frenemy [It’s complicated] Christian Cage suffered three broken ribs and a ruptured lung five minutes into their ladder match against two other teams, The Young Bucks and FTR. He says that this has led him to realize that maybe it’s time things came to an end. As he specifically remarks, it’s not exactly like he’s on anyone’s bedroom wall these days. 2027 will be Adam Copeland’s last year as an in-ring competitor, and he has his sights set on the Men’s World Championship.
When I heard this, I didn’t have any personal feelings towards it, but I cannot understate how legendary a man Adam Copeland is. He was a true innovator of the sport in the late 90s and early 2000s alongside men like Christian Cage, the Hardy’s, and the Dudley Boyz. In the 2000s, he’d become one of the biggest stars in wrestling, becoming a notorious villain for the hero of the day, John Cena. Not only did he fight for 9 years to get back in the ring following a neck injury in 2011, but he came back better than ever, putting on classic match after classic match with the likes of Roman Reigns, Bryan Danielson, and Seth Rollins. There’s no shortage of memorable moments and matches on his resume that I could discuss; some might say they all totally reek of awesomeness. Even in AEW, his match against Christian Cage at “Worlds End” 2023, which I saw live, and his match against Matt Cardona on Collision spring to mind as personal favorites. This is all very brief, but I would be remiss if I didn’t try and underscore the importance of this.
Unfortunately, if there’s one man who won’t let a good thing be a good thing, it’s Don Callis. As he comes to the ring, the fans boo him down and chant insults at him; he says Mark Davis’s success wasn’t the only success for the Family to come; they’re all over this dynamite! Then he looks at Copeland and says that even though he thinks that he won the battle, Don Callis always wins the war. After a few more words, he brings out several of his henchmen to come and attack him, none of whom we’ve seen before tonight. Again, this family is BIG. Notably, in this gaggle of goons is Brian Cage, who puts Adam Copeland down with a slam traditionally known as the “F5”. He has a match tonight against Konosuke Takeshita, another Clockwork Carnage Qualifier.
Fortunately, who should come to the aid of Adam Copeland, but Konosuke Takeshita and his group members in “The Conglomeration”! The Conglomeration is kind of like the Don Callis family but for babyfaces, except there’s no leader. Think of them as a sitcom cast — just a group of friends who like to wrestle and fight the forces of evil. Konosuke and friends quickly run off the Family, leaving only Cage and Takeshita in the ring.
TLDR THOUGHTS: Rated “G” for “Good”.
Funny how that happens in wrestling: two people come out, and it perfectly segues into the next match. Another qualifying match, and unfortunately, once again some lopsided odds. Konosuke Takeshita is one of the best wrestlers in the world right now, in his prime,, and has already been a New Japan Pro Wrestling world champion. Brian Cage has been out on injury leave for the last few years, and very rarely wins a match on television. I wonder who’s going to win?
Fortunately, this match manages to be a little more interesting than Cope vs Alexander. There’s a lot more athletic things going on, for one, with Brian Cage doing a spectacular dive over the top rope to the floor where Takeshita was standing to take him down with a Tope Con Hilo. It’s truly remarkable, honestly, the things Brian Cage can do at the size he’s at. He’s jacked to the gills and yet can do some pretty impressive maneuvers. I also thought the little voice lines he shouted during the match, like “WHO BETTER THAN CAGE?” and “YOU’RE DEAD!” were really funny. Konosuke Takeshita is also a really spectacular wrestler, and he more than anyone elevates it. Every match he’s in feels more important because he’s in it; every move he does has a certain added emphasis I can’t quite place. It reminds me of watching Kenta Kobashi and Stan Hansen, two Japanese wrestling legends I’d describe the same way. He also debuted a new move tonight to beat Brian Cage and advance to the Clockwork Carnage match, a “Dragon” sleeper hold, which I thought was really cool. Overall, good match, but once again the predictable finish means I can’t rate it too highly.
RATING: 4.00/5.00 stars.
BACKSTAGE SEGMENT: The “New” United Empire addresses their enemies.
Backstage with AEW’s reliable interviewer Renee Paquette, one of AEW’s newest and foremost groups in the United Empire speaks on their prospects going forward. The leader, AEW Men’s World Champion Will Ospreay, speaks first to address the Clockwork Carnage match in which he’ll be defending his belt against seven other competitors. I think I’ll be making it very clear throughout these reviews how much I’m not a fan of Will Ospreay, and thankfully I can make some headway on that front tonight because I’m not particularly a fan of his promos, namely because he sounds immature for a 33-year-old. Fortunately, he doesn’t speak long because the mic is then passed to “Speedball” Mike Bailey, who says that in Clockwork Carnage, they’ll be ready for anybody. They qualified last week, taking out Lee Moriarty to do so in a match which I really enjoyed. Then the microphone is passed to the AEW Women’s Tag Team Champions “The Brawling Birds”, Jamie Hayter and Alex Windsor, who I thought were very funny and entertaining as they talked about their prospective challengers, Kris Statlander and Harley Cameron. We finish with Andrade, AEW National Champion, who asks his rival Tommaso Ciampa a question he seems to ask everybody he wishes to wrestle… “How you know?” It’s kind of a redundant catchphrase, but the whole United Empire playing into the bit before he said the line made it better.
TLDR THOUGHTS: What a great, entertaining bunch, shame about Will, though.
We go to the entrance ramp next to introduce the resident “old school wrasslin'” tag team on the scene, FTR, accompanied by their manager, Stokely Hathaway. A lot of people don’t like the team composed of veteran tag team wrestlers Dak Harwood and Cash Wheeler, but personally I’ve always been a fan. Not the biggest fan, but they’ve never had a bad match that I’ve seen, and they’re two more of the guys who wrestle “my kind” of wrestling. Perhaps not of their promos, though, as Dak proceeded to cut a pretty decent but forgettable promo on how they should be the #1 contender to the AEW Men’s World Tag Team Championships, currently held by Matt and Nick Jackson as “The Young Bucks”. They don’t get a reply from them, but they do get a reply from the Motor City Machine Guns, a 20-year veteran tag team made up of Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin. They say that while they have great respect for FTR, it’s they who should be the #1 Contenders. Alex in particular has an idea, drawing on FTR’s record in matches against the Bucks; how about they have a best-of-five series to determine the next #1 contender? While FTR agrees to this best-of-five, Stokely will not agree to the match happening on this show, opting instead to wait until the pre-show of Wrestledream. The city of Cleveland doesn’t like this very much, and honestly, neither did I.
TLDR THOUGHTS: Why didn’t Stokely Hathaway have more mic time? He’s the best talker in the whole segment.
BACKSTAGE SEGMENT: The Good, The Ugly, and The Unable-To-Get-Over-It [Not actually their team name]
Backstage, we see the next challengers to the AEW World Trios Championships, Brodido [Brody King and Bandido] and “Hangman” Adam Page, talk about their upcoming 2-out-of-3 falls bout with the Champions Swerve Strickland and The New Level [Kofi and Austin Creed]. At least, that’s what they should be doing. Instead, Adam Page is beside himself with fury over Swerve, saying that just as HE got comfortable back in AEW with his new team and buddies, SWERVE HAS to form a trio for himself and take his belts. It’s hateful and spiteful and kind of petty, which is to be expected; Adam Page and Swerve Strickland are “Destined to do this Forever”-esque rivals who hate each other with every fiber of their being. Brody points out that whatever Swerve’s doing to mess with Adam’s head is clearly working, and he has to get his head in the game. Bandido hypes up them both, saying that when they get to Wrestledream, they’ll take both the belts and the honor that Swerve and the New Level have.
TLDR THOUGHTS: He really just can’t get over him, can he?
Another Clockwork Carnage qualifying match, and yet another completely predictable result. Kazuchika Okada is one of the greatest wrestlers of the 2010s and 2020s, with several world championship reigns and legendary defenses under his belt, and Myron Reed is a ridiculously athletic rookie who’s been in AEW for only about a year or so. Also, Okada’s championship is on the line. I wonder who’s going to win?
I considered skipping the whole “I wonder who’s going to win?” bit because, well, this match was one of my favorites of the night. I really liked the story this match told: the rookie Myron using every move in his arsenal, of which there are many, in hopes of landing the one move which could pick up the biggest win of his career to date versus the veteran strategist in Okada, who knows exactly where and when to pick his spots to deal the most offense. Some of the things Myron Reed can do genuinely made me sit up in my chair, such as a 450-degree splash from the steel steps on the outside to the floor. Never seen that done before Wednesday’s show. Conversely, Okada plays it safer, opting for precision strikes and well-timed counters to Myron’s flashiness. Okada isn’t everybody’s cup of tea; I’ve heard many accusations of “Boring” thrown his way [Hi big bro, thanks for reading this far in!], but I liken him to Tim Duncan in the NBA. He’s not necessarily the flashiest wrestler, but he has absolutely perfect technique, and he’s able to use his small moveset to tell a better story. In the end, Okada was able to avoid Myron’s higher-risk moves in order to capitalize with his signature dropkick, tombstone piledriver, and finally his ripcord lariat known as “The Rainmaker” to win the bout.
RATING: 4.75/5.00 stars.
In between this and the next segment, we get a video package for Maxwell Jacob Friedman, aka MJF, who recently won the Pro Wrestling Illustrated #1 spot in their #500 rankings. In my opinion, this was a foregone conclusion in favor of the Long Island native. This has absolutely been the year of MJF, who spent much of the first half of the year as AEW Men’s World Champion. Given he’s tied for being my favorite wrestler, I can’t lie and say I’m not biased here, but seeing him win made me extremely happy. He really is just better than you, and you know it.
We cut backstage to two-thirds of the AEW Trios Champions, the New Level, formerly known as The New Day. They’re saying that Swerve Strickland isn’t here tonight because he’s taking care of family business [If you know Swerve, then you know I’m more than a little concerned as to why they kept that vague. Especially while he’s engaged in a feud with Hangman Page. Bad things tend to happen! But their manager, Prince Nana, brought a friend with them… Random comedian Mojo Brooks! I had no idea who this guy was; he’s never been on AEW television before, but he succeeded in his job of being funny. His bit where he really wanted to fight Brody King, a foolhardy endeavor evidenced by a side-by-side of the two men, was especially humorous. The trio eventually came out to the ring, and let me tell you, Austin Creed and Kofi’s ability to cut a promo is a lifeline on this show. I think it’s mainly down to how much fun they seem to be having, to the point where it doesn’t seem like they’re trying to talk like a wrestler; it feels like they’re talking like regular people. No mean feat! Eventually they do get serious, telling their opponents that they’re really not prepared to handle the triple threat that is Swerve and the New Level, with Austin Creed telling Adam Page that “You’d be better off not letting personal issues with Swerve turn into Professional issues for your friends”. Chilling stuff to end the best segment on Dynamite.
TLDR THOUGHTS: Let that man fight Brody King! It’ll go as great as this segment was, surely.
At this point in the show, we finally get something that this show has been severely lacking: Women’s Wrestling! Truly, it’s been missed throughout this show. AEW’s women’s division has been neglected for forever, but when they get the stage they always steal the show. It’ll be trios action tonight, with Women’s World Champion Mercedes Mone teaming with former Women’s Tag Team Champions the Divine Dominion to take on the sisters of sin, a trio of evil-doers headed up by former Women’s World Champion Thekla. Thekla is challenging for Mercedes title at WrestleDream, in a feud centered around who’s the largest and in-charge-est women’s wrestler in AEW. In my opinion, it’s been the best feud going into the big show, and I cannot stress enough how much of a shame it is that they’re not the main event. Enough with the negatives, though. Thekla is one of the best women’s wrestlers of 2026, the breakout star of the year. She’s also in that group of wrestlers who elevate the matches they’re in, which also happens to include Mercedes Mone. Mercedes actually broke her nose recently, and the mask she’s been wearing as a result makes her gear look better. Usually those masks look ugly, but she pulls it off.
The match itself chugs along smoothly, with Mercedes and the Divine Dominion pulling out some really stunning move sequences. I think they should be a more consistent presence together; they’ve had one or two matches together like this one, and they’ve ruled in all of them. The Sisters aren’t to be outdone, though, with stereo “Octopus” holds on all three of their opponents. I really want to highlight Megan Bayne out of these six women, though; her physicality is second-to-none in the women’s division right now, she’s an absolute beast of a wrestler. I really liked this match, especially when Thekla and Megan were going against each other. We also had a very rare sight in wrestling these days that I’m happy to say made an appearance: The Black Mist! Julia Hart of the Sisters of Sin sprayed it into Lena Krosses face, allowing Thekla to stomp her down into the canvas for a three-count. Thekla gets a little added momentum without pinning the champion, and Mercedes doesn’t lose anything while losing. Good things are happening all around!
RATING: 4.50/5.00 stars
In your Dynamite main event [And usually where I would be ending these reviews, but unfortunately I still have more to talk about because there’s another hour after this. Three hours is way too long for TV wrestling! It hurts some of these later matches because at this point in the show, I’m tired and I’d like to go to sleep!], we have the United Empires Ospreay and Andrade taking on their respective rivals in Samoa Joe and Tommaso Ciampa. Samoa Joe is a part of the Clockwork Carnage, where Ospreay will defend his championship, beating Jack Perry [Luke Perry’s son, if anybody cares] to qualify. Tommaso, as announced tonight, will be facing Andrade for his national championship at WrestleDeam.
When I heard this match announced, my first thought was, “Samoa Joe and Tommaso Ciampa, teaming together?? I must be dreaming!” Ciampa was one of my favorite wrestlers as a kid in 2018/2019, and Samoa Joe has recently risen to be one of my favorite wrestlers ever. I was hoping this match would deliver, and I’m happy to say it mostly did. Will Ospreay is one of the most gifted wrestlers I’ve ever seen, but he wrestles in a style which I personally do not enjoy, and as such, it will impact my enjoyment of the match. Thankfully, I find that he’s better in tag matches than in singles matches. When he teamed with Jon Moxley a few months ago, I found those matches to be really good. His high-octane style works better when he has another guy waiting at his corner to change the pace, even if just a little. Andrade has a very similar style, but he has his bits and catchphrases which he uses throughout the match to give it just that little breather. In the end though, the heel team of Joe and Ciampa ended up dominating the bout for much of its duration. I talked about physicality with Megan Bayne earlier, and perhaps there’s no more physical wrestler than Samoa Joe. There’s a reason why the prevailing chant when he’s in the ring is “Joe’s gonna kill you”; He does just that. Andrade nearly was able to fend off the two-pronged onslaught, but when Ciampa spiked his head onto his very own championship belt, it was over from there. Samoa Joe locks in his favorite chokehold, and the referee waves it off. Victory to the bad guys!
RATING: 4.25/5.00
OVERALL THOUGHTS ON THE SHOW: I thought it was a pretty good show, but nowhere near as good as AEW can get. Too many predictable matches. Also, knowing there’s another hour ahead somewhat filled me with a sense of dread. B-.
Part 2: Collision.
BACKSTAGE SEGMENT: Jon Moxley breaks down.
I really didn’t expect to cry at 10:04 pm on Wednesday night, but there I was, crying in the Symphony Hall lounge because of a really beautiful wrestling segment.
Opening up Collision is Moxley backstage, who is losing it. Throwing around metal pipes, using a metal pipe to break a wooden pallet, then collapsing to the ground. AEW interviewer Renee Paquette looks to have a word, but she immediately crouches down and asks what Jon is feeling. She is his real-life wife, after all, attempting to comfort her husband. Moxley says he’s feeling a great deal of pain. Renee asks what kind of pain. Moxley replies, “Not sure I can tell the difference anymore.” I’m not going to delve into PAC; I explained his passing at the top of this review, but it’s weighing on Moxley very hard. I don’t wish to speculate on how somebody I don’t know is grieving with a personal loss any further. What I will say is that for the character of Jon Moxley, him breaking down like this almost never happens. He’s a cool, calm, and calculated man who very rarely loses his cool when he doesn’t mean to. He’ll get angry, but he knows how to keep it a menacing anger. His anger is more of a threat than an outburst. He very rarely, if ever, shows true weakness. Just as it seems he’s going to completely break down, Marina Shafir walks in. The right-hand woman to the leader that is Moxley, his closest confidant, the woman who’s been attached to him at the hip for two whole years. A woman with one of the most heartfelt tributes to PAC less than a day after he died. Marina crouches down to Moxley and tells him that, among other things, the only way out of this is through. That’s enough to get Moxley off the ground and back to his usual mood.
TLDR THOUGHTS: In Wrestling, sometimes it is hard to know where reality ends and where fiction begins. I like to think, in moments like these, that the reality of life and the fantasy of fiction do the very beautiful and somber dance that only professional wrestling can create.
Okay, that’s enough of me being sad and serious.
We move into our first match of the collision hour, Ricochet taking on Ace Austin to see who will move on to the Clockwork Carnage match. I think you know where this is going. Ricochet is a multi-year veteran with a storied history with Will Ospreay. Ace Austin, a talented wrestler who hasn’t done a lot in AEW, lost to Ricochet in his debut match. I wonder who is going to win?
As seen before, the quality of these matches hinges very heavily on how good the actual wrestling is, due to there being very little to no actual tension as to who will win. Ricochet and Ace Austin, for the most part, manage to bring the quality up. They’re both very acrobatic with a knack for creating innovative counters and sequences. There were two particular spots in the match I enjoyed: Ricochet shoving Ace Austin the outside in a bump which looked nasty, and a sequence of them attempting to suplex the other, going all around the ring before ending at the top of the turnbuckles. This match was shaping up to be on the level of Okada and Myron Reed, until we got to the finish of the match. Ricochet pinned Ace Austin with an inverted suplex driver he calls the “Vertigo,” a move that very rarely pins anybody. I felt like this match had more room to grow, but the abrupt end lowered my enjoyment of it immensely.
RATING: 4.00/5.00 stars.
PRE-RECORDED SEGMENT: The Don Callis Family and the Young Bucks have a split interview… or do they?
In short, they don’t. What was supposed to be a mediated talk between two of the leading members of the Don Callis Family, Kyle Fletcher and Kevin Knight, and the Bucks ahead of their World Tag Team Championship bout at WrestleDream gets interrupted by Don Callis himself [It really is the Don Callis show today, huh.], who sits down in the Bucks’ place to praise two of the crown jewels in his family. What I thought was really fun about this segment was seeing how both Kyle and Kevin think they are so obviously better than the other guy next to them. Kevin calls himself Jordan and Kyle Pippen, for instance, in a jab that makes Kyle give him a “What did you just say?” face. All good things must come to an end, though, as the Young Bucks surprise their opponents with dual kicks to the face! At least they have the courtesy to apologize for their lateness before they leave.
TLDR THOUGHTS: When Kyle and Kevin have their match to see who really is Jordan and who is Pippen, it’ll be the best match of the night.
In the ring now, we have a victory celebration for the 21-year-old Nick Wayne, who beat the 55-year-old wrestling legend Chris Jericho in a singles match last week. I’ve always thought Nick Wayne was annoying and lame. He never seemed to have any defining character trait. He was just a young guy who wrestled. That is, until a month ago, when he started to very slowly change my mind. While his style of wrestling isn’t for me, his promos were sticking in my brain more. He had a better cadence, a better presence in front of the camera. This transformation was completed this week when he had, besides the New Level, the best promo of the whole night. It was simple, really; if you didn’t know, Nick Wayne… beat Chris Jericho. Followed by a pyro boom. I, for one, laughed. Then came Chris Jericho, who felt like this was disrespectful. The two then traded video packages from their match, one made by Nick Wayne that highlighted his win, and one made by Chris Jericho that highlighted the fact that Nick cheated. After a few more back-and-forth insults, a match was made for WrestleDream between the two. A match that I am not waiting with bated breath to see, but a match that I am more interested in than I was before I watched this segment.
TLDR THOUGHTS: Nick Wayne has grown on me, but this feud hasn’t.
BACKSTAGE SEGMENT: Samoa Joe and Tommaso Ciampa know how Wrestledream will go.
In a very short and sweet interview with Renee, Joe and Ciampa have essentially the same thing to say; Tonight was a view into the future, and they will do what they did to Ospreay and Andrade again in their respective matches at WrestleDream. Tomasso is a bit more blunt and explicit, while Samoa Joe is more eloquent in his point. A little detail I liked was Renee still being shaken from Moxley’s outburst earlier, being quieter than usual.
TLDR Thoughts: Two of the best heels in AEW know how to cut an amazing promo, especially Joe.
Onto our second-to-last match of the night, with the opportunist and ruthless TBS Champion Persephone and her mentor Britt Baker being challenged by Hyan and Dani Luna, Dani Luna having debuted in AEW less than a month ago at All Out in an open challenge for Persephone’s belt. She absolutely wowed me, making me an overnight fan if I’m going to be truthful. I love a wrestler who favors a good suplex, and she sure does favor a good few of them. We see that explosiveness in this match, with Hyan even being a little taken aback when Dani picked her up to slam her onto their opponent, a common tag team maneuver. Persephone is another one of my favorites, and she was in fine form tonight too, but this was the Dani Luna show. There was one thing about this match that rubbed me the wrong way, and it was when Britt Baker used a towel to choke out Hyan towards the end of the match. Typically, using a towel like this would be a disqualification, but it wasn’t here. It’s nothing major, just inconsistent with the usual rules of wrestling. No matter though, it was a second attempt at cheating by the heels that went awry, leading to Dani Luna picking up the win for her team! I really, really want to see her succeed in AEW.
RATING: 4.25/5.00 stars.
After the match, Persephone and Baker attacked the winning team from behind, a common thing heels do when the match doesn’t go to plan. Fortunately, Queen Aminata runs in to make the save for the good guys and run off Persephone and Baker. Unfortunately, unlike Takeshita earlier, she will not be wrestling tonight. Although, this will spur an announcement from WrestleDream that Persephone will be defending her title against Dani, Hyan, and Aminata in a fatal four-way match. That match will be one to watch, for sure.
Before we get to our main event, another video package plays. This time, it’s for a mystery wrestler, debuting soon. It’s pretty obvious who it is, but once more I will save my thoughts [and my enthusiasm] for when he debuts properly. I am capital “H” Hyped for him, to say the least.
Finally, we come to our last match. By this point in the night, it was 11:30 pm. There was a significant overrun on Collision. I, for one, was dog-tired. Leave it to yet another Clockwork Carnage qualifier to main event! Darby Allin, former AEW world champion and pillar of the company. Hechicero, a world champion in CMLL, a Mexican wrestling promotion partnered with AEW, but is decidedly a midcarder in the United States. Plus, Darby’s TNT championship is also on the line. I. Wonder. Who’s. Going. To. Win?
At least this match had the common courtesy to be a good one. They call Hechicero “The Mad Scientist” because of all the ways he can target limbs and put in submission holds. It goes without saying, with that kind of description, that he’s my kind of wrestler. Darby Allin is a very lightweight and skinny guy who can go into all sorts of holds he couldn’t put on a regularly sized man. Darby also has a tendency to take some, how to say… ludicrous, ill-advised, and self-destructive bumps that other wrestlers won’t. This match, as such, was pretty good. In the end, if you didn’t already guess the trend by now, Darby wins with two of his favored dives, the backward-facing “Coffin Drop” to Hechicero. All in all, decently good, but by the time this happened in the night, coupled with the predictability, it can’t go quite as high as I would’ve liked for it to go.
RATING: 4.25/5.00 stars
After the match, all eight participants for the Clockwork Carnage made their way to the ring and began to brawl! This is called a “schmoz,” when a bunch of wrestlers have a big and wild fight to close the show. It had some cool moments, like when Konosuke Takeshita and Samoa Joe squared off against each other and started firing shots. Overall, though, I didn’t care much for it. I hope the actual Clockwork Carnage match is better than the qualifying matches were tonight.
