The SmarK Rant for AEW Dynamite – 03.11.26

The SmarK Rant for AEW Dynamite – 03.11.26

Live from San Jose, CA

Your hosts are Tony Schiavone, Ian Riccaboni & Bryan Danielson

Claudio Castagnoli & Jon Moxley v. Hechicero & Konosuke Takeshita

Claudio and Hechicero take it to the mat to start and Hech gets a cradle for two, as does Claudio, and they battle to a stalemate. They trade cradles again and Hechicero takes him down with a leglock before Claudio makes the ropes and bails to the floor. So it’s over to Moxley and Takeshita, and Takeshita is sporting a SHINER. And he’s angry about it. The Death Riders double-team him in the corner, but Hechicero makes the save and takes Claudio down with the headscissor driver as we take a break. Back with Hechicero fighting off the Death Riders, giving us the unlikely sight of the Don Callis Family playing babyfaces, as Takeshita gets the hot tag. He runs wild and hits Claudio with a rana, but Moxley catches him with the choke from behind. So Takeshita reverses to the Blue Thunder Bomb for two. They trade boots and Moxley clobbers Takeshita with a lariat for two. They trade the big moves as it’s BREAKING LOOSE IN TULSA and Hechicero cradles Claudio for two, but gets reversed into the Giant Swing, which gets two. Hechicero drops a leg for two, and gets a backslide for two. But then Claudio distracts the ref, pokes him in the eye, and gets the small package for the pin at 15:07. This one took a bit but the finishing sequence was crazy. ***1/4. This brings out Mark Davis and Lance Archer for the attack, with even Marina getting laid out, but Takeshita refuses to use a chair and leaves on his own.

Meanwhile, Willow and Persephone have words ahead of their title match tonight.

Meanwhile, MJF appreciates the beauty of Kyle Fletcher, and requests a beating of Mike Bailey on his behalf.

TNT title: Kyle Fletcher v. Mike Bailey

They quickly trade flips into an armbar from Bailey and Kyle has to bail to the floor to escape, and then catches him with a kick out there. Bailey tries an armbar takedown out there and Fletcher kicks out of that, so Bailey kicks the shit out of him in the ring. Fletcher yanks him out of the corner and into a suplex for two. Bailey blocks a blind charge while Callis advocates for breaking his toes on commentary. Man he must have hated Kevin Von Erich. Bailey keeps hitting kicks and follows with a standing shooting star for two. Kyle hits him with a tiger suplex and they do a wild kick battle for a double down before heading to the apron. Fletcher tries a snake eyes out there, but Bailey reverses to an incredible poison rana onto the apron as we take a break. Back with Bailey making a comeback and hitting a dive to the floor, followed by a moonsault on the floor. Back in, Bailey misses a shooting star, but a frustrated Fletcher gets knocked to the floor and Speedball hits him with a corkscrew plancha out there. Back in, Bailey rolls him up for two, but Fletcher drops him facefirst on the turnbuckle to finally slow him down. Fletcher with the running boot in the corner, but Bailey jumps him with a sleeper and turns it into a cross armbreaker. Moonsault kneedrop onto the shoulder gets two. Fletcher foolishly sticks his arm in the air on the kickout, so Bailey armbars it. Fletcher powerbombs out of that and they head to the floor, where Bailey hits him with the moonsault kneedrop again. Back to the apron and Bailey goes up, but Fletcher boots him down. So Bailey beats on him with more kicks and takes him to the mat with a terrifying poison rana, complete with camera angle from below. Bailey with the spinning kick for two off that. PK into another kneedrop, but Fletcher catches him with a Michinoku Driver for two. Lariat puts Bailey down, but he snaps off a rana for two. The spinning corner kick sets up the shooting star knees, but that misses, and then he suckers Kyle in with a small package for two anyway. They trade cradles and Bailey gets two, but Okada runs in and distracts the ref, allowing Mark Davis to give Fletcher the belt, and knock Bailey out for the pin to retain at 18:00. I HATE the House of Torture finishes but holy shit what a ride this was. ****3/4

Brody King v. Local Talent

You know how this goes. Ganzo Bomb at 0:10. And on the way out, Swerve Strickland chokes him out with a chain while cosplaying as Brody King, but Brody is having none of this shit tonight and breaks the chain, causing Swerve to try to run in terror. This proves unwise, as Brody destroys him with the cannonball and then chokes him out with the chain to teach him a lesson about choking people out with chains.

Darby Allin & Orange Cassidy v. Gabe Kidd & David Finlay

Gabe immediately knocks Darby off the apron to be an asshole and the brawl is on, as they all fight on the floor, appearing to be trying to impress some old codger in the front row who is observing the match. Darby dropkicks Kidd into the railing in front of this mysterious observer, and the babyfaces double-team Kidd in the ring as we take a break. Back with Orange rolling up Finlay for two, but the Dogs double-team him in their corner. Orange fights them off and makes the hot tag to Darby, who runs wild with corner splashes and then hits Finlay with a springboard coffin splash. Scorpion Deathlock on Kidd, but Finlay breaks it up and Kidd puts him down with a lariat for two. Orange with a stunner into a Code Red from Darby on Kidd and the babyfaces hit the Dogs with stereo topes before Darby hits Kidd with a missile dropkick to the floor. But then Clark Connors pops out of the crowd and uses a TIRE IRON to knock Orange out on the floor. That leaves Darby alone with the Dogs and they brutalize him and finish with a piledriver from Kidd at 11:34. ***1/4. Afterwards, the Dogs try the beatdown, but Roddy Strong comes out to seemingly lead them, and then turns on them and kicks their ass before making peace with Orange and setting up a trios feud.

TBS title: Willow Nightingale v. Persephone

They fight for a takedown to start and Willow takes her down with a headscissors. Persephone comes back with kicks in the corner, and a crucifix gets two. Willow with a fisherman’s suplex for two and a crossbody for two. Persephone with a fallaway slam and we take a break. Back with Persephone dropkicking Willow to the floor, but Willow hits her with a spinebuster for a double down out there. Willow comes back with a cannonball off the apron and then a cannonball in the ring, which gets two. Willow to the top, but that misses, and Persephone hits her with a german suplex. Willow gets her own, but Persephone tries her Razor’s Edge, and Willow reverses into a backslide for the pin to retain at 12:00. Hard work from both here! ***

Meanwhile, The Babes of Wrath challenge Megan Bayne and Lena Kross for Revolution Zero Hour.

Mark Briscoe & The Young Bucks v. Tommaso Ciampa & FTR

I’m assuming Ciampa turned on Collision because they don’t actually recap it here. We get a big brawl on the floor and FTR tries the PowerPlex, but the Bucks break it up and the babyfaces clean house with a Superkick Party. FTR escapes the Meltzer Driver and they all slug it out until it’s a double down and we take a break. Back with Briscoe hitting the pile of heels with a dive off the chair. Back in with a Razor’s Edge from Briscoe on Dax, into a cutter from Matt that gets two. Ciampa and Cash try to double-team Matt, but Cash accidentally superkicks Ciampa and the Bucks come back again with a pair of swantons on Ciampa into a froggy bow from Mark for two. Nick to the top, but FTR sends him through a table at ringside and hits Briscoe with the Shatter Machine for two. To the floor, where FTR hits poor Matt with a spike piledriver on the announce table, and the table doesn’t give. In the ring, Ciampa with a running knee on Briscoe for two, but then Cash adds another shot and Ciampa hits a second knee for the pin at 13:08. This one felt a bit subdued, especially for a Bucks match in California. ***. And then Ciampa gets another shot on Briscoe, hitting him with an Air Raid Crash off the middle rope and onto a pair of chairs. Well that sucked for Ciampa.

Main Event Press Conference: Bryan Danielson moderates between Hangman Page and MJF. And they have “reporters” asking questions and this goes over like a lead balloon as they answer boring questions. And we get boring answers, although Hangman has some hesitation when asked who he’ll be if he doesn’t win the World title and thus can’t ever compete for it again. And that turns it into a brawl before security breaks it up and gets beat up for their troubles. And Hangman pulls out a barbed wire board to preview what TEXAS DEATH will presumably mean before leaving MJF laying to end the show. Well that wasn’t exactly a winning sales pitch for the PPV. I’m really not clear at the moment one what the exact stipulation is supposed to be. Is it “Hangman loses the match”, or “Hangman doesn’t win the title”? Because those are two drastically different things, even though Texas Death should eliminate any screwjob finishes to protect him either way.

Pretty great episode this week aside from the press conference ending and a surprisingly disappointing Bucks match. The crowd seemed a bit burned out by the end, I think, because no one was able to follow Fletcher and Bailey.