Full Gear was a fabulous night for The Inner Circle, as Ortiz and Santana showed out in an impressive opening match victory over The Young Bucks, while Chris Jericho picked apart Cody Rhodes, securing a big title retention in an emotional contest after MJF betrayed the son of a son of a plumber. There's no time to rest on laurels, however, as Jericho already has more gold in sight, with he and faction mate Sammy Guevara (2-0 in matches as a team) challenge SCU for the AEW World Tag Team Championships in Dynamite's main event. Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky welcomed back Christopher Daniels on Saturday, entering at full strength for the first time in a month and a half, with a sterling record in recent competition to boot. Has AEW had enough of the Cinderella ride that Kazarian and Sky have been on, and will they be willing to place even more eggs in the Chris Jericho basket? Let's take a look, as AEW looks to continue building momentum after a stellar pay-per-view.
- AEW Dynamite #7 comes to you from the Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee, seen on this blog before for WWF In Your House 2, and a venue that had close ties with WCW, hosting three Starrcade events. Jim Ross, Excalibur, and Tony Schiavone are on the call.
- Our opening match focuses on the aftermath of Full Gear's "Lights Out" match, as Kenny Omega receives advice from his trainer to take the week off, leading to his loyal friend, Michael Nakazawa, to fight on Kenny's behalf against Jon Moxley. Mox shaking off the punishment he received on Saturday might be unrealistic, but it suits his character perfectly to already be fighting so soon after going through such a torment. Not just is Moxley back to competing, he wins in dominant fashion, ducking a lariat and spiking Nakazawa with the Paradigm Shift to win in 69 seconds. Mox rants and raves on the mic afterward, offering respect to Omega for his balls, and promising to break necks and make no apologies as he tears his way through the rest of the AEW roster. This was a means to an end for Moxley, but an entertaining way to establish that he's certainly still on the prowl.
- Marko Stunt and Jungle Boy have no lack of confidence as they step up to the plate to battle The Dark Order here on Dynamite, and for a time, the two undersized babyfaces fight the good fight against the cultists. Marko flips off Evil Uno and Stu Grayson while riding on Jungle Boy's back during their entrance, which was hilarious, and Stunt, despite the size mismatch, gets in his share of offense, slickly countering a toss into a Flatliner, before giving the internet trolls some ammunition by slipping attempting a ropewalk Dragonrana. Jungle Boy, always an entertaining hot tag, lights up Grayson and Uno with a flurry of offense, but as the match progresses, the power of the heels becomes overwhelming. Jungle Boy gets ragdolled, first shoved by Uno into Stunt's cover to stop the count, then Jungle Jack gets caught attempting a tope, laid out with double jumping knees by Uno and Grayson. The Fatality finishes off Stunt, and Uno then proffers the olive branch after the match, giving the two smaller men the glorious chance to be one of Dark Order's masked creepers. Jungle Boy's refusal leads to the much-welcomed return of Luchasaurus, whom Nashville goes nuts for, as the only living dinosaur with a master's degree runs wild, taking down three creepers with a single Tail Whip, tossing bodies around, before taking Grayson to task with his incredible Chokeslam/Moonsault combo. Getting Luchasaurus back from injury is huge for AEW, as he picked up a ton of credibility with his All Out performance, and the company is badly in need of quality big men.
- Nashville is in for quite the treat on this night, as Luchasaurus' return is followed up by a Darby Allin appearance after a few weeks out of the spotlight for everyone's favorite masochistic skateboarder. Darby has been thrown into the world's most random triple threat match, as he's tangling with Peter Avalon and Shawn Spears, for some reason. All three men are given only a handful of minutes to work, and Darby gets all of the shine, bouncing around the ring and taking the biggest bump of the match when Spears stops a Coffin Drop and Darby is shoved off the top rope, coming down in a heap. Spears is distracted by a run-in from Joey Janela, as their feud has extended on from Full Gear, leaving Darby to job out Avalon with a float-over Stunner and the Coffin Drop. This was all an avenue to lead to Darby accepting Moxley's gambit to face him in the ring, which the crowd pops huge for, although we don't get to see the two actually interact on this night, unfortunately.
- Nyla Rose takes her dominant form from last week's Dark into a televised butt-whipping, as she destroys Dani Jordyn, an independent worker with an impressive physique. Dani's strikes had some oomph behind them, but that's all the offense she gets, as Rose cruises to victory with a rib-crushing big boot, a Samoan Drop, and the Beast Bomb.
- AEW is clearly filling time right now, as we get a number of quick segments in a row following the Rose squash match. Excalibur has two announcements to make, as he updates us on the health of Dustin Rhodes (he's almost ready to resume training after being attacked by The Inner Circle on a prior Dynamite) and also informs us about the upcoming Dynamite Dozen Battle Royale, set to take place next week, where the final two men left standing will compete in a singles match for the Dynamite Diamond Ring, a fancy gold and diamond-encrusted pinky accessory. That's followed up by Allie being interviewed, though she gets only a few moments into her promo before being interrupted by Awesome Kong and Brandi Rhodes, who are here for another hair-snipping. Kong's dramatic entrance got a significant reaction, but the Nashville crowd, just like the one in Baltimore, was indifferent on the new direction for Kong and Brandi.
- We finally move to something with substance, as Chris Jericho and AEW's newest villain, MJF, share mic time to dunk on Cody Rhodes. Friedman accuses Cody of being selfish, and making poor Maxwell a puppet, with the Full Gear betrayal signifying MJF escaping from being under Cody's thumb. The material was formulaic, but MJF, as always, owned the mic, delivering his speech with a fiery passion that really sold genuine emotion. MJF and Jericho bicker over whether or not Maxwell was asked or requested to join The Inner Circle like a pair of petulant toddlers, before Chris scores the biggest shot of the year with his line about MJF's parents getting horny from watching him beat up Juventud Guerrera (MJF was born around the same time Jericho and Juvie were feuding in WCW). Both men find common ground on Cody being a jackass and share a playful hug, I loved JR's disgusted reaction to that, before Cody himself shows up, sporting a stitched-up forehead. Friedman is saved from his former friend's wrath by Wardlow, who makes his first physical appearance in AEW after living in pre-taped video packages for the past few months, slamming Cody with ease and choking Cody with a tie. This all ran a little long, but it was a monumental promo in AEW's history, and it did an essential job by establishing MJF as a proper threat, stepping out of Cody's shadow and immediately elevating up the card by exchanging barbs with Jericho.
- AEW has mostly done a commendable job avoiding WWE's awful habit of booking constant rematches on TV, but fall into that trap with the Hangman Page/PAC feud, as despite a clean finish at Full Gear, they've been pitted against each other immediately, with no stipulations added to make it feel like a necessary addition to their series. That being said, this third clash between the pair was also my favorite, with better pacing and match booking that played off their previous encounters. There are counters galore in this one, with Page avoiding several dives, PAC countering the avalanche fallaway slam to bludgeon Page with dropkicks, Page lithely evading PAC to slam the Geordie off the apron with a side slam, and PAC saving himself from certain defeating by catching Page in the jaw with several kicks with the Virginian cowboy attempts the Buckshot Lariat. PAC bounces Page off the ropes for a crisp German suplex, but Page rocks PAC's world with a hellacious discus lariat, a brilliant spot that received a monstrous pop. Just like at Full Gear, Page blocks PAC's mule kick, but PAC has an answer this time, smacking Page around the dome with an enzuigiri. Page has the receipt, spiking PAC on the floor with a Brainbuster, but the Buckshot Lariat can't put PAC away, and Page is obviously flustered, his supposedly buried self-doubt now beginning to creep back in. PAC retreats to the corner, and Page hesitates before continuing the attack, which is all the opening that's needed to cost him everything. PAC strikes with a series of kicks and stomps to the head, rocking Page, and he connects with the Black Arrow and applies the Brutalizer with no resistance, forcing the official to call it. This was a subtly executed, combat sports-esque finish, with Page playing the victim of a flash knockout, and it wouldn't work without his believable selling. While the decision to have this match take place in such close proximity to their previous encounter was questionable, the story told through the action was engrossing, adding another layer to Page's intricate character arc.
- Absolute chaos breaks out backstage before the main event, as The Young Bucks and Proud n' Powerful are far from done with each other, and end up essentially working another match in a long brawl filled with a surprising amount of moves. Ortiz is slammed through a table by Matt Jackson, Santana jumps off a forklift onto both Bucks, and Orange Cassidy makes a random appearance in a bathroom stall before all four men head into the arena. Several AEW security personnel take superkicks for trying to gain control of the situation, but Matt and Nick taste karma for that attack as Ortiz and Santana rule in the midst of anarchy. Nick's bum leg is re-injured courtesy of a baseball-filled sock that Ortiz and Santana attempted to wield after the Full Gear match, while Matt takes the same double team powerbomb through the stage that Ricky Morton was on the receiving end of in Charleston. The apperance of Private Party finally gets Ortiz and Santana to retreat, and both teams are quickly booked to face off next week in what's sure to be a show-stealer. AEW jumping full boar into presenting Ortiz and Santana as the most chaotic team in the division is a wise one, as they have charisma to spare and excel as wild street fighters.
- Main event time, as Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara attempt to wrest the tag titles away from SCU, who are riding on an emotional high with Christopher Daniels back in the corner of Kaz and Sky. After staying on the sidelines on Saturday, Sammy Guevara is well-rested and serves as the workhorse in this scrap, allowing Jericho to preserve his energy for the finish. Sammy has his moments of offense here, nailing Sky with a dropkick and working with Kaz for a jaw-dropping Spanish Fly, but he's primarily here to bump, as the two babyfaces toss him around. Kaz hits a high-angle German suplex, while Sky rolls Sammy off the mat into a cool reverse neckbreaker. Daniels doesn't want to stay out of the fray, and dives onto Hager after the big Oklahoman interfered, though that doesn't end well for the near 50-year-old vet. The crowd is hooked by a narrow near fall, as Sky almost fells Jericho with a TKO, and a brilliant sequence between the two champions sees them send the drama into overdrive, with Sky countering the Lionsault and leaping into a Codebreaker. Jericho appears to have once again proved his guile and wrestling mastery, but Sky plays possum, and in a blur of motion, takes the AEW Champion to the mat with an inside cradle that scores the upset. Scorpio Sky has been one of the biggest sucess stories of AEW thus far, with an array of excellent performances under his belt already, and it's heart-warming to see him get this chance, showing out on the national stage and pinning a world champion and wrestling legend clean to end the night. What a moment.
7/10
This was the most difficult episode of Dynamite to rate in my opinion, as the first hour was largely lackluster and didn't have enough wrestling, before the second hour delivered pay-per-view quality entertainment. Ultimately, I thought this did just enough to build for the future and bring me back next week, while also providing a fitting closure to the PAC/Hangman rubber match.
- Henry
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