The SmarK Rant for AEW Dynamite – 02.11.26

The SmarK Rant for AEW Dynamite – 02.11.26

Live from Ontario, CA, not to be confused with Ontario in Canada.

Your hosts are Excalibur, Bryan Danielson & Tony Schiavone

Kenny Omega joins Tony to start for a face to face with Swerve, and Swerve has some stuff to get off his chest. Swerve is a little annoyed because he won the World title, but Kenny the Cleaner was long gone, and now he’s using his EVP power to insert himself back into the World title scene. My wife asks why Kenny is “dressed like a youth pastor” and that feels a bit savage but I’ll allow it. But Kenny points out that it was the fans who put him back into the scene, and if Swerve needs someone to burn down his house again, Kenny knows a guy. So now Kenny is looking for a fight, and he thinks that actually Brody King is the most dangerous man in AEW, not Swerve. So then things get personal and it’s time for FISTICUFFSMANSHIP and they brawl to the floor and into the crowd. Surprisingly, security doesn’t break them up, so they fight to the stage and Kenny smashes him into the LED boards, and then teases a One Winged Angel off the stage, which Swerve blocks with a weapon of some kind and then spears Kenny through a table to end the brawl. So this was pretty awesome.

Meanwhile, Kyle Fletcher is ready to claim his hero’s welcome in Australia, but first he needs to beat Ciampa for the TNT title.

The Death Riders (Pac, Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli) v. Josh Alexander, Konosuke Takeshita & Mark Davis

I’m still very confused by the whole Moxley and Death Riders deal, as it’s been weeks and they’ve made no effort to go anywhere with it. Davis overpowers Pac to start, so Moxley comes in and beats him down with forearms in the corner, and that gets nothing. So Claudio gives it a try and exchanges shots with Mark and he also gets overwhelmed. So Claudio hits him with a deadlift suplex and it’s over to Takeshita. He goes right after Mox and triggers a brawl already, and everyone fights on the floor. Back in, Claudio hits Takeshita with a slam and Pac follows with a standing moonsault for two. Back to the floor as Pac gets triple-teamed by the Callis Family and we take a break. Back with Claudio getting a hot tag and running wild with forearms, setting up the Giant Swing on Alexander until Davis breaks it up. Claudio powerslams him for two and a sunset flip gets two. Davis fires back with a pair of lariats to put him down for a double down, and it’s Moxley v. Takeshita. Mox hits him with a lariat off the slugfest, but Davis dives in with a boot and everyone throws bombs to clear the ring again. Takeshita with an exploder on Moxley for two. Death Riders triple-team Takeshita and into a cutter from Mox for two, but Davis makes the save. And then the Callises triple-team Mox with suplexes and Davis hits a lariat for two. So that sets up Mox for the killshot from Takeshita, but Caludio saves and everyone brawls to the floor again, leaving Alexander alone with Moxley and he gets choked out and Death Ridered at 15:05. And there’s your first CERTIFIED BANGER of the night to set up the Moxley – Takeshita match in Australia, which should also rule. ***3/4

TNT title: Tommaso Ciampa v. Kyle Fletcher

Anyone else constantly going nuts trying to remember if “Tommaso” has 2 m’s or 2 s’s? Just me? Callis has promised Fletcher not to interfere at all, so of course he’s out there with Lance Archer. They slug it out and Ciampa smacks him down and puts the boots to him, and a DDT sends Fletcher to the floor, where he regroups with a superkick and suplex on the apron to take over. Back in the ring with a backbreaker for two. Ciampa with a clothesline and boot out of the corner to send Kyle to the floor, but Ciampa stops for words with Callis and brawls to the floor with Fletcher again after evading a sneak attack. Ciampa runs him into the railing, but Kyle suplexes him on the floor as we take a break. Back with Ciampa missing a running knee and hitting the stairs, but he drops Kyle with an Air Raid Crash on the stairs and they’re both out on the floor. Kyle beats the count, but Ciampa slides into his face with the running knee for two. That was slick. They trade suplex attempts and Ciampa gets an inverted DDT for two. They fight to the top and Fletcher brings him down with a backdrop suplex for two, and then he immediately pops up into a powerbomb for two. They fight to the apron and Ciampa tries a rana to the floor, but Fletcher powerbombs him on the apron and then back in for a running boot in the corner. Brainbuster gets two off that and the crowd was BUYING the near fall. They head back to the top and Kyle teases the brainbuster, but Ciampa brings him down with a suplex and knee strike for two. Fletcher with the superkick, but Ciampa hits another knee for two. These near falls are batshit crazy. How is this even real life? They slug it out and Fletcher catches him with a lawndart into the corner, but he walks into a knee strike while yelling, and Ciampa gets a brainbuster for two. Fletcher is FIRED UP with a Michinoku Driver and lariat to set up another brainbuster, and he wins the TNT title at 16:33. WHAT EVEN WAS THIS MATCH. How were they working at that speed for that amount of time?!? ****1/2. Afterwards, Kyle promises to show up in Australia and receive the hero’s welcome he deserved last year, and he’ll defend it against anyone while he’s there. So that brings out Mark Briscoe, who is happy to accept that challenge, but Kyle is sick of Mark’s dumb little face. So he accepts, but it’s going to be the final match, and it’s going to be a ladder match to settle things once and for all. I feel like that will be a good match. Just a hunch.

Clark Connors & Daniel Garcia v. Orange Cassidy & Roderick Strong

Weird team on the heel side. Strong immediately tags himself in and beats on Clark with chops in the corner and adds a dropkick while Moxley joins us on commentary and explains that the War Dogs are Death Rider-adjacent and he’s doing a favor for Gabe Kidd by lending out Garcia. The heels double-team Strong in the corner to take over, but Roddy makes his own comeback and Orange manages to tag himself in and brutalize Garcia with punches in the corner. Garcia puts him down with a backdrop suplex while Mox wonders about complications of taking a road trip with Orange through California (“He’d probably have a chinchilla in the front seat”) and we take a break. Back with Orange fighting them off and making a comeback, but Strong gives him the short arm and walks off, apparently no longer Conglomeration Adjacent. So the heels go to work on Orange and Connors spears him off the apron. But Darby Allin, apparently less dead than originally advertised, returns from the desert and takes out Connors, leaving Orange to cradle Garcia for the pin at 9:19. **1/4. Afterwards, Toni Storm promises to shave Marina so bald that they’re gonna sell her in Spirit Halloween, and then Wheeler Yuta brings out Mina Shirakawa and cuts off her ponytail. He’s the worst. But at least the Dow is over 50,000. Man though, we know where the Strong thing is going now, but I really hope they don’t cost the world the site of that shit Yuta getting his head shaved. Some things are too important to the world right now. WE NEED THIS.

Meanwhile, Andrade and Hangman have their last words before Australia.

#1 Contender match: The Young Bucks v. The Rascalz v. Private Party

Apparently reports of Private Party going to WWE were greatly exaggerated. Private Party and the Rascalz trade some wacky double-teams to start, but the Bucks tag themselves in and we get a slugfest with PP. Bucks clear the ring and hit Zay with the double facebuster, but they stop to pose and the Rascalz dump them for a dive. Zay adds his own big hangtime dive, and then Xavier hits a shooting star on the pile as we take a break. Back with Nick taking the Party down with a double headscissors and Matt hits the locomotion suplexes on the Party. Quen dumps Matt over the top but he rolls right into a cutter on the Rascalz out there, and back in for stereo elbows on Private Party for two. Private Party makes the comeback and Zay hits a diving flatliner off Quen’s shoulders on Nick for two. Back to the Rascalz and Reed drops Zay with a TKO and everyone throws kicks for a double down as everyone is out. Bucks slug it out with Xavier and hit him with superkicks to set up the TK Driver, but that gets broken up and Reed dives to the floor with a cutter and back in with a 450 on Matt for two. Bucks regroup with superkicks on everything that moves, and the BTE Trigger on Quen, and the TK Driver on Reed finishes at 13:45 to make the Bucks #1 contenders again. Look, the match is gonna be great, but I think I can speak for the entire wrestling world when I say we don’t need to ever see Bucks v. FTR ever again. Match was good but the poor Rascalz felt completely overshadowed out there. ***

AEW World Women’s title, Strap match: Kris Statlander v. Thekla

Thankfully no stupid four corners rules here. Thekla runs away and Kris hauls her back in and puts her down with a clothesline and drags her around the ring. To the floor and Thekla whips her IN THE FACE and that sucks, so Stat boots her down and runs her into the railing. Thekla runs her into the stairs and Kris is busted open as we take a break. Back with Thekla getting a Tarantula in the ropes, but Stat chokes her out with the strap, so Thekla necks her on the top rope to escape. Back in with Thekla hitting a flying bodypress for two. Thekla does his spooky spider pose, but Stat yanks her down and superkicks her into the corner for a powerslam that gets two. They fight on the top and trade strappings, and Thekla brings her down with a spider suplex, but she poses too long and Statlander beats on her with the strap as a result. Stat with a lariat for two. Thekla spits in her face, so Stathits another lariat and lays in the strap again, and a powerbomb gets two. Thekla misses the double stomp, so Stat ties her up and hits a tombstone. This brings the Spooky Sisters of Doom out to interfere, and Thekla spears Kris, tries her arms behind her back, and then curb stomps her to win the World title at 14:07. It was time to change the title and Thekla deserves a run with it, so I heartily approve of this move. They tried hard but the strap held them back a lot with ring position and setting up spots. Still really good and a memorable way to end a hell of a show. ***1/2

This was another PPV quality show this week, although honestly nothing was gonna follow Fletcher-Ciampa. Still we had multiple bangers and a party match and two title changes and I’m happy with my night of wrestling. I have to imagine Grand Slam is gonna be the same energy or greater on Saturday.