The SmarK Rant for AEW Dynamite – 02.26.25

The SmarK Rant for AEW Dynamite – 02.26.25

Live from San Diego, CA

Your hosts are Excalibur, Tony Schiavone & Taz. They do the intro standing up for whatever reason.

Meanwhile, COPE shows up in an ambulance, and one of the Death Riders is gonna go home in it tonight.

Meanwhile, MJF gets his ankle tattoo removed. And a very grumpy Hangman Page arrives.

Hangman Page v. Aaron Solo

Hangman isn’t even wearing his gear, and makes sure to take out his wallet and keys before the bell. So he beats on Solo in the corner and hits a lariat, but Solo comes back with a kick. But then Page finishes him off with the buckshot lariat at 0:50. And then he runs down his most hated things: RUNNING OUT OF BISCUITS, plus English Ivy and then of course MJF. So he’s staging a sit-in until Maxwell decides to come out and take his beating like a man. So MJF does come out, but he’s got a bloody towel, which he of course reveals to be the blood of Christopher Daniels, who is laid out backstage. Well good thing COPE brought an ambulance. Eh, Daniels has had worse anyway, if I’m Hangman I’m going after MJF, but instead he calls over the medics to deal with CD. Why didn’t anyone do that before? Talk about running a sloppy shop.

Meanwhile, Don Callis and Kyle Fletcher are watching from a skybox.

Meanwhile, Renee stops by Jericho’s dressing room, and he’s revealed to be working for Don Callis and loaning out the talents of Bryan Keith.

Bryan Keith v. Will Ospreay

They trade takedowns to start and Keith slugs away with forearms, but Ospreay takes him down with a rana and beats on him with chops in the corner. So Keith chops him in the throat and Will puts him down with an armbar and slams him into a standing moonsault for two. He sets up for the Hidden Blade, but a grumpy-faced Keith bails to the floor and Ospreay hits him with a dive. But then Keith sends him to the floor and hits him with a big boot outside to take over as we take a break. Or at least they do in the US as TSN leaves it running this week. Back in the ring, Bryan beats on him with chops and follows with a Saito suplex for two. To the camel clutch and Ospreay fights out of that, so Keith hits him in the back and follows with a spinkick for two. Keith suplexes him into the corner, but Ospreay comes back with the handspring kick and a springboard clothesline for two. They trade head kicks, but Keith puts him down with a lariat. Ospreay with the stunner and Ozcutter for two. Hidden Blade is countered by a knee strike, and the Bad Apple gets a powerbomb for two. Keith teases a Tiger Driver, but Will rolls through into a Styles Clash and finishes with the Hidden Blade at 10:45. ***1/4. Afterwards, Kyle Fletcher invites him up for a chat, but they end up brawling on the stairs until security pulls them apart.

Meanwhile, Toni Storm regains the Women’s title from Mariah May, but then gets attacked on Collision to set up the rematch.

Meanwhile, we learn a little bit about Momo Watanabe. Better than nothing but that match will have a lot of heavy lifting to do.

Meanwhile, Mercedes Mone bumps into Billie Saintz and gets attacked by Momo as a result.

THE OUTRUNNERS v. The Murder Machines

I’m surprised they’d put Cage and Archer in there with the Outrunners, because either of them make Brian Cage look like a scrawny nerd by comparison. And Archer WISHES he was vascular like Truth. The Runners clear the ring and stop to pose, but the Machines beat them down outside and back in for some choking from Archer after we take a break. Cage SHOOTS THE HALF on Truth for two, but Turbo gets the HOT HAND and runs wild before rolling up Cage for two. Archer cuts him off with a boot out of the corner and the Machines double-team Turbo with boots for two. Truth manages to break up the powerbomb finisher, but then he gets destroyed on the floor and Archer chokeslams Floyd for two. Archer with the Blackout, but the Hurt Syndicate provides distraction and Turbo Floyd gets the rollup for the pin at 5:45! OUTRUNNERS WIN! OUTRUNNERS WIN! That’s the first upset win I’ve seen booked in a while and it’s a great change of pace. And you all mock my love of the youngest men! Wait hang on that didn’t come the way I wanted. Moving on.

Swerve Strickland joins us and calls out Ricochet for his stolen robe, and Ricochet answers and doesn’t think he’ll be giving it back anytime soon. So Nana announces a rematch for Revolution, with the #1 contendership on the line. Ricochet’s obnoxious heel act gets better each week as he accepts the match and still manages to be annoying. But then Nana gives him a pep talk and makes Swerve promise to get the robe back, or else he won’t be able to keep being Swerve’s manager.

Meanwhile, Hangman heads back to his sweet ride and threatens to run MJF over if he sees him.

The Undisputed Kingdom v. Daniel Garcia & FTR

Well at least Garcia has upgraded his partners from his usual team. Cash trades hammerlocks with Kyle to start and they battle to a stalemate. So Adam Cole comes in with Garcia and they also go to a draw. Dax beat on Strong in the corner and suplexes him into a legdrop for two, and Garcia comes in with a neckbreaker for two. They all brawl onto the floor and it’s a huge car wreck out there and everyone bumps until it’s a pile of bodies. We take a break and return with Kyle and Cole double-teaming Dax with kicks for two. Dax clears the ring himself and puts Kyle in the Sharpshooter, but he makes the ropes. The Kingdom regroups, but we get triple Sharpshooter attempts into triple small packages for two, and everyone is out for a triple double down. So that leaves Cole and Garcia for a hockey fight and Dax puts Strong in a Sharpshooter this time, which leads into an incredibly wacky four-way submission hold. But that leaves Cole alone with Garcia again, and he uses Danny’s own jackknife cradle for the pin at 11:10 to set up a TNT title shot. On Collision? OK. Very fun spotfest. ***1/4 They should probably switch the title there actually but that show is getting murdered by Elimination Chamber so I don’t know if there’s much point.

Meanwhile, Claudio is wandering the halls, but HERE’S COPE, and they brawl to the ring where Yuta helps out to give the heels the advantage. So Claudio goes for the Conchairto, but Jay White interrupts and COPE makes the comeback and lays them out with spears. And then Yuta accidentally hits Marina with the bu saiku knee, much to the amusement of White, who adds a Blade Runner on Yuta and allows COPE to deliver the Conchairto to Claudio, and then the crowd wants one more, so Marina gets put in position and Willow comes out and comes out and does the deed herself! SAVAGE. You know what, this was great, let’s just put the belt on COPE now, I’m OK with it.

Deonna Purrazzo v. Harley Cameron

Deonna goes for the armbar early and Harley reverses out of that and takes her down with the headscissors and a neckbreaker for two. Harley goes up and gets tripped up by Purrazzo, putting her on the floor for a baseball slide as we take a break. Back with Deonna hitting a legsweep for two and she puts Harley in the Tree of Woe, but charges and runs into an upside down kick. Harley comes back with an enzuigiri and it’s time to FEEL THE WRATH with a shining wizard for two. Deonna boots her down again and follows with a powerbomb for two and she goes into the armbar, but Harley rolls her over for two. And then Harley ROLLS THE DICE to finish at 8:00. OK now she has a finisher to go with her winning ways. We’re getting somewhere. **1/4

Meanwhile, Claudio & Marina depart in the ambulance, as promised.

AEW International title: Konosuke Takeshita v. Orange Cassidy

Takeshita steals the shades from Orange and presents them to Callis, thus pissing off the crowd, and Orange tries the Orange Punch and misses. So he uses the devastating overhand chops instead before dropkicking him into the corner and putting the boots to him. Takeshita takes him to the apron and beats on him, but Orange springboards in with a DDT, at which point Takeshita just pops up and smashes him as we take a break. Back with Orange going up for a diving elbow, but Takeshita nails him with a lariat to cut off the comeback, and then reverses a stunner into the Blue Thunder Bomb for two in a great sequence. They fight to the floor and Orange hits the Beach Break on the announce table, and then back in for the Orange Punch and a DDT on the floor before stealing his glasses back. Back in the ring, he goes up, but lands in an elbow from Takeshita, but reverses a brainbuster into a stunner. But then Takeshita hits him with the tombstone, and tries a second one, which Orange reverses to a cradle for two. Takeshita with the Raging Fire, however, and that finishes at 12:00 to retain in a GREAT main event. ****1/4. So we are officially at Takeshita v. Omega at the PPV.

The hot streak continues as this was a great show, feeling very “sports entertainment” but with some great matches as well. Glad they’re taking steps to address the problem of obvious winners in every match, too, because that certainly wasn’t the case here.