Reviews by Dave
By David E Houston II
Show air date: April 27, 2022
AEW Dynamite was brought to us from an all-time wrestling city of Philadelphia and they did a lot. A whole lot. Some of it very good and some of it…AEW-rrific.
Dax Harwood defeated Cash Wheeler
Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Qualifying Match
They showed a lot of respect to FTR, allowing them to open with their Owen Hart Foundation tournament qualifier and having CM Punk come out to do guest commentary. Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler showed why they get the respect they do, having a very good, evenly fought match between the current Ring of Honor and AAA tag team champions. Having a straight wrestling match with high-level grappling and brawling was right in Jim Ross’ lane and you could tell he genuinely enjoyed it. Punk didn’t step on anyone’s toes as a guest, something that doesn’t often happen when wrestlers work commentary there. Harwood got the win countering a Wheeler roll up for the pin.
Adam “Hangman” Page vs. CM Punk
They go immediately into the announcement of the Double Or Nothing pay-per-view main event: Hangman Page vs Punk for the World title. Punk cuts a great promo, walking around the ring. Fantastic opening segments this week.
Pre-match comments from Scorpio Sky and Dan Lambert for their TNT title ladder match. Lambert was always pointless with Men of the Year and even more so now that they might be faces going forward and this promo was a reminder.
The Blackpool Combat Club defeated The Factory
In another Blackpool Combat Club exhibition, this time Jon Moxley, “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson, and Wheeler Yuta dismantled the Factory team of QT Marshall, Aaron Solo, and Nick Comoroto. They gave the Factory guys a little bit but this was mostly BCC, as it should have been.
Another backstage interview segment with Jamie Hayter and Toni Storm for their eventual match in the Owen Hart Foundation (OHF) Tournament, this time with Britt Baker with Hayter and Ruby Soho with Storm. Didn’t help. These are not getting better.
World tag champions Jungle Boy Jack Perry and Luchasaurus and their mentor, Christian Cage, had a backstage interview with Tony Schiavone. They talk about Perry’s loss to Kyle O’Reilly last week and throw out a challenge to any top 5 ranked team, immediately answered by Team Taz–“Absolute” Ricky Starks and Powerhouse Hobbs. Starks caught a body on the promo (left them boys looking stupid) but this works better in two segments, with TT answering later and not “conveniently” walking by. Talk about a wrestling trope that should die…
Wardlow defeated Lance Archer
Wardlow beating “Murderhawk” Lance Archer was a solid big man match, better than Wardlow’s match with The Butcher last week. Still way too much over-everything with Maxwell Jacob Friedman. Archer loses so much on TV, that he might as well join The Acclaimed.
Serena Deeb defeated Hikaru Shida
In a Philly Street Fight
With Women’s World champion Thunder Rosa looking on, number one ranked Serena Deeb ended her heated rivalry with Hikaru Shida, beating her in a Philly Street Fight, submitting her with a Texas Cloverleaf after a focused attack on Shida’s knees. This was good and violent without trying to be too cute, even with Deeb coming up with powder like an old Memphis heel.
Good Fireball
They had a confrontation with Chris Jericho and his Appreciation Society and Eddie Kingston, Santana, and Ortiz. I’m not anymore interested in this feud than before, but I would stop the FF to listen to Kingston walk all over Jericho on the mic. Matt Menard has a huge f–king head and his facial expression does make me laugh.
Later, the JAS catches Kingston and crew in the back and Jericho unleashes a Lawler/Cornette/Sheik quality good fireball. Even sports entertainers get some heat in AEW. Please don’t put King in an eyepatch, Tony. Please!!!!
Now This Feud Can Kick Off Properly
Solid segment with House of Black–Malakai Black, Brody King, and Buddy Matthews–finding out the hard way that both PAC and Rey Fenix are back for Death Triangle. Now, this feud can kick off properly. I don’t know why Fuego del Sol had to be dead but it’s AEW, they overdo shit.
Undisputed Elite defeated Lee Johnson, Brock Anderson, Dante Martin, The Varsity Blondes
Undisputed Elite beat Lee Johnson, Brock Anderson, Dante Martin, Brian Pillman Jr, and Griff Garrison in a 10-man match. Big ol’ shoulder shrug.
Main Event: Scorpio Sky defeated Sammy Guevara (c)
In a Ladder Match for the TNT Championship
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a ladder match that got on my nerves so bad as Sammy Guevara defending his TNT title (on TBS) against Scorpio Sky. They just threw everything in this shit, including the ever-annoying Tay Conti and even more annoying Paige VanZant, who makes it harder to believe she actually made money fighting before this. There’s a ladder with barbed wire on it, both guys hit it. Some silly shit with the ladies. Sky wins, I lost.
Decent show with some good stuff that limped to a finish for me. The Real Uncle Dave grade: B (barely).
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Reviews by Dave is the best wrestling review on the internet! It’s written by David Houston II, who writes about WWE NXT 2.0, AEW Dynamite, and IMPACT Wrestling.
