The SmarK Rant for AEW Dynamite – 04.29.26

The SmarK Rant for AEW Dynamite – 04.29.26

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Your hosts are Excalibur, Taz and Tony Schiavone

TNT title: Kevin Knight v. MJF

Max immediately tosses him and runs him into the stairs, and then powerbombs him onto the railing before stealing a camera and doing his own videography. Back in, all that gets two. Knight fires back with a crossbody, but MJF elbows him down and flips him into a cutter for two. He tries the Heatseeker and Knight fights out of that and comes back with a DDT for a double down. Knight fires up with a dropkick and jumping splash for two. Knight goes up and MJF rolls out of the ring to foil that move, so Knight hits him with a dive on the floor instead. Max rolls out of the ring again, so Knight hits him with a BIGGER dive. And then Max rolls out a FOURTH time and teases walking out, so Knight dives a fourth time and hits him with a springboard clothesline this time. Back in the ring, MJF suckers him into a Heatseeker attempt, but Knight counters out and gets a sunset flip for two. They trade pins off that, but MJF pops him up and into a cutter for two. They head to the top and Knight flips down, blowing out his knee on the landing but still managing to hit a rana anyway. UFO splash misses and the knee gives out again, allowing MJF to hit him with the Panama Sunrise for two. We take a break and return with Max working on the leg, but Knight blocks a Panama Sunrise attempt with a superkick to put him down. He goes up with a UFO Splash, and it hits this time, but he takes too long to cover and it only gets two. MJF bails to the apron and catches him with a dragon screw out there to take over again, going to work on the knee before hitting a whiplash slam for two. He grabs the title belt for distraction and loads up the ring, but Knight goes low and gets the surprise pinfall to retain at 15:00. Apparently MJF’s secret weakness is getting hit in the nuts! Who would have figured? Really good opener and a fun comeback win for Knight. ***3/4. Afterwards, Darby Allin rappels into the ring and takes out Max with the Scorpion Deathdrop, prompting Max to declare the previous result meaningless and challenge Darby to a rematch. But first Darby wants to give Kevin Knight a shot at the title, and also MJF needs to put something on the line.

Meanwhile, Christian and Copeland accept the I Quit challenge from FTR, although Cope points out that Christian accepted that challenge pretty quickly considering his poor record in those matches thus far.

The Brawling Birds v. Emily Jaye & Jordan Blade

Apparently Hayter isn’t as injured as previously feared. They double-team Blade in the corner and Jamie hits her with a suplex, and then they hit her with a double clothesline and finish with. Hart Attack at 1:20.

Meanwhile, Thekla would love to stop calling people dumb bitches, but they won’t stop being dumb bitches. The math checks out.

AEW International title: Kazuchika Okada v. Ace Austin

Okada gives him a nice break in the corner and then changes his mind and beats Ace down instead, but Ace cradles him for two and hits him with a dropkick. Austin with a squat into a death valley driver in a cool spot, and he springboards into an enzuigiri and then bails to the apron for an impressive handstand to psyche Okada out. This kid has some MOVEZ. But then Okada hits him with a DDT out there and we take a break as Don declares “Youth is wasted on the young”. Yeah man I feel that one. Back with Okada going up for the elbowdrop, but Austin escapes the Rainmaker and takes them to the floor. Ace does another handstand and hits Okada with a kick from there, and then he follows with a Fosbury flop to the floor. Back in with a legdrop and a leaping guillotine for two. Okada beats him down but misses a dropkick, and Austin rolls him up for two. Okada sends him to the apron, but Austin tries a springboard again and Okada just nails him with the dropkick. Austin keeps coming with a backslide for two, however. So Okada hits him with another dropkick and follows with a tombstone this time, and that sets up the Rainmaker to finish at 10:43. Impressive showing from Ace Austin, who keeps having good matches in losing efforts. ***1/4

Meanwhile, somewhere in the Old West, Swerve Strickland kicks some ass and sets his sights on Bandido next. That was actually incredibly well done, building up the mystery of who the mysterious killer was and then paying it off.

Meanwhile, Will Ospreay actually takes the Death Riders up on their offer to train him. And Moxley tells him to drop all his excess baggage and trust the process. Which in this case, is a proprietary training method involving wrestling on concrete.

Christian & Copeland v. RPG Vice

Christian gets some shots on Rocky in the corner to start, and the inverted DDT gets two. Cope comes in with a big boot for two. Over to Trent, who hits Cope with a double knee for two. Cope boots him down and Cage comes in with some choking on the ropes, but Cash Wheeler distracts him from the desk and Cage gets run into the post. So this brings the Conglomeration out of the crowd and Orange gives Big Stoke POPCORN TO THE HEAD to trigger a brawl into the crowd as we take a break. I have to say, I don’t get the reasoning of putting the Conglomerators with FTR when the PPV has C&C challenging. Back with the heels cutting off the hot tag and double-teaming Christian for two. Rocky with a cross armbreaker, but Cage fights them off and takes Rocky down with a DDT for a double down. And it’s HOT TAG Cope, who hits Trent with an Impaler for two. RPG hits Cope with double knees to set up Strong Zero, but Christian breaks it up and Copeland gets two off that. Finally Cage takes out Rocky with his arm brace to get rid of him, but Trent rolls up Cope and uses the ropes for two. But then the ref sees it, and while Trent protests, Cope alley-oops him into a spear from Cage that gets the pin at 12:53. That turned into a hell of a match actually, despite a slower start before the break. ***1/4. Afterwards, C&C practice making Trent say “I Quit” in order to warm up for the tag title match.

Meanwhile, Jericho’s promo is interrupted by Ricochet and his guys, who show up and beat Jericho’s ass yet again, ripping up his nice new shirt and leaving him for dead.

AEW Women’s tag team title: Megan Bayne & Lena Kross v. Kris Statlander & Hikaru Shida

The champs overpower Shida to start and Bayne tries some kind of fallaway slam that goes badly for her. Shida fights back with a high knee, but Bayne catches her and slams her. Shida gets frustrated and goes for the kendo stick, but Kris talks her out of it. So Shida grabs Stat and suplexes her own partner onto Bayne in the corner, which was certainly effective. Stat fights off both heels as this thing is going sideways in a hurry with blown spot after blown spot and we take a break, mercifully. Back with Statlander hitting the double rana on the champs that she fucked up before, and it’s hot tag Shida. She clears the ring and it’s back to Statlander, but Bayne hits her with a german suplex for two. Everyone brawls and it’s BREAKING LOOSE IN TULSA as Statlander stacks up the champs and hits them both with a 450 for two. Shida with a falcon arrow on Kross for two, but Megan suplexes her and a double chokeslam finishes at 12:31. First half was a dumpster fire, but after the break they got it together and it was pretty swank. ***1/4

Meanwhile, MJF airs his grievances to Andrade while Don Callis tries to make peace between them.

Rush v. Steven Fuerte

The geek offers a handshake and Rush cleans his clock and smashes him into the railing outside. Back in, the corner dropkick finishes at 1:30.

Meanwhile, Samoa Joe and the Opps, now including Anthony Bowens for some reason.

Meanwhile, FTR reintroduces Ciampa as their third guy and challenges the Conglomeration to a Trios title match.

AEW World title: Darby Allin v. Brody King

Darby tries the fast start and Brody chops him down and drops him with a suplex. Cannonball in the corner sets up the Ganzo Bomb, but Darby escapes that and takes King down with a Code Red in the corner for two. Brody bails to the floor and Darby tries a dive, but just bounces off him harmlessly and Brody beats him with chops. Darby puts him in a chair and follows with the missile dropkick as we take a break. Back with Brody chopping Darby off the ropes as Darby takes his usual crazy bump to the floor off that. But then Brody gets distracted by Kevin Knight in the crowd and Darby jumps on his back with a sleeper. So Brody drives Darby into the railing and they fight to the announce desk, where Darby gets a Code Red but fails to break the table. That was basically just a sunset flip and didn’t really have the impact they were looking for. Back in the ring, Darby regroups and hits another dive on Brody, and this one actually puts Brody down. Back in, Darby hangs him in the Tree of Woe and cannonballs him, followed by a lariat for two. Another lariat gets two. Darby figths back with chops and that just annoys Brody, who then hurls Darby over the top and onto a cameraman in a terrifying spot. So Brody tries to drag Draby back in the ring while Darby clings to the mats trying to save himself, which exposes the concrete. Brody charges with a cannonball and misses, smashing through the railing as a result, but he keeps coming like a movie monster. So Darby manages to powerbomb him onto the exposed concrete and he follows with a coffin drop out there. Brody beats the count, but Darby hits him with a pair of coffin drops on the way in and gets the pin at 15:49. Well he earned that one. ****

Hell of a show this week again, with a good mix of matches and angle development and a banger of a main event.