Reviews by Dave
Show air date: May 20, 2020
Another Dy-NO-mite in the books and for a go-home show for their Double or Nothing pay-per-view this weekend, it was pretty good. A return of some of that stuff that brings forth hard eye rolls but that’s expected with the return of Kenny Omega.
I thought it was smart to open with AEW World Champion Jon Moxley facing 10 of the Dark Order. I think it would be a service to many of the unsigned guys they’ve relied on lately to get a couple of those masks. Is there a brown paper bag test to be in the Dark Order? Corporate cult leader, Mr. Brodie Lee (the mister is a nice touch) cut a promo before the match. It was okay. I do not think Lee stealing the belt adds anything to this. His being the number one contender makes their whole rankings a joke since he hasn’t beaten not one top 5 contender. Moxley beat 10 and tried to coax Lee out by threatening to break 10’s arm. Mr. Lee had no Fs to give (this was a better promo) and left 10 to his fate. Good segment. I expect this to be a strong match at DoN.
MJF vs Marko Stunt
MJF beat AEW’s most popular whipping boy, Marko Stunt. This was a little long for me. It makes no sense for Stunt to not have the rest of Jurassic Express with him when MJF had Wardlaw. Not one bit. Everything after that was predictable and typical. I guess Luchasaurus wasn’t watching on the monitor, so Stunt got beat up some more before he made the save. Luchasaurus could not be my best friend.
Arn Anderson vs Jake Roberts Promo Battle
Representing their charges, Arn Anderson (who was called the coach of the Nightmare Family but does he come out with anyone but Cody?) faced off with Jake Roberts. This was also a face-off of the originator of the DDT and one of the first guys to take it as his own finish and a reunion of two of the original Legion of Doom (Arn was in a tag team with Matt Borne.) This was good and the highlight of the first hour. I was starting to think Jake was eating Arn up and then Arn shook off the rust and closed strong.
Rey Fenix vs Orange Cassidy
Wanting some payback for that nasty kick he took last week, Orange Cassidy faced Rey Fenix in a pretty good match. I love this Fenix. He still does his stuff, but he does more hard-hitting brawling and works like a heel. Fenix won (he better) and then they do a bunch of stuff with a ladder that Kip Sabian had brought out. SCU made an appearance. Dives ensue. This was to hype up the ladder match at DoN. Did nothing for me, but I know a lot of folks liked it.
Nyla Rose and Dr. Britt Baker vs Kris Statlander and Hikaru Shida
Women’s champion Nyla Rose teamed with Dr. Britt Baker to face their respective DoN opponents, Hikaru Shida and Kris Statlander. This was pretty solid but Baker got hurt legit late. I thought it might be an angle as they were doing a thing where Rose and Baker were not getting along, but it didn’t play into the finish at all as Rose pinned Shida clean, overcoming a two on one disadvantage and looking like a beast. Shida got some payback, putting Rose through a table with a superplex, but she looks like a real underdog for their no dq/no countout title match at DoN.
Shawn Spears Segment
Shawn Spears has a great segment where he announces the retirement of Dustin Rhodes and then books himself a match with Rhodes at DoN.
Main Event: Sammy Guevara vs Matt Hardy
The main event of “The Spanish God” Sammy Guevara and “Damascus” Matt Hardy was pretty good but damn, Sammy cannot keep taking these losses. He looked good as usual but still lost.
Matt was all set to avenge the destroyed Vanguard 1 when they cut to the Inner Circle beating up Kenny Omega (yay) in the stadium. The Young Bucks make their return to make the save, but they and Hardy fall prey to superior numbers (anytime Jake Hager sells for a Jackson, he needs a raise). Welcome back Hangman Page, who has to save his Elite compatriots. Cool entrance, but why the hell were they all apart anyway?
Honestly, that’s as much of the empty stadium match I need to see. Good show with a lot of good work to set up the pay-per-view matches.
