The SmarK Rant for AEW Dynamite – 09.09.26

The SmarK Rant for AEW Dynamite – 09.09.26

“Rebel Heart”

With the death of the Butcher, an already sad show somehow got sadder.

Live from Athens, GA

Your hosts are Excalibur, Tony Schiavone & Taz

The Waiting Room with Britt Baker DMD returns, with special guest Rebel (Reba) and Persephone. And Hikaru Shida, even though she’s technically an enemy who broke Britt’s nose back in the day. And Britt accidentally leaves her glove with Rebel.

AEW World Trios title: Swerve Strickland & The New Level v. Orange Cassidy, Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Reilly

Kofi and Orange trade wristlocks to start and Orange gets a crucifix for two and avoids a legsweep by being lazy. Over to Kyle and Creed and they trade leg kicks, but Creed puts him down with a forearm and Kofi comes in with a double-team splash for two. So Strong has had enough of this crap and uses Orange as a battering ram on them to take over. Conglomeration with a double team kneedrop in the corner and we take a break. Back with Kyle hitting Creed with kicks and they trade chops, but Creed deadlifts him into a suplex and Kofi gets the hot tag. He runs wild with a bodypress out of the corner on Roddy that gets two. Boom Drop follows , but Strong catches the Paradise kick and suplexes him. So it’s over to Swerve, but he misses a dropkick and Strong catapults him out of the ring. So the New Level pulls Strong out and hits a double-team stomp on the apron, and back in the ring with a flying elbow from Creed for two. New Level with some cool double-teams on Orange, but Orange hits the stunner on Swerve and Strong follows with the Angle Slam. Creed rolls up O’Reilly off a lariat attempt and hits a wheelbarrow suplex / legdrop combo with Kofi and everyone is down. Orange dodges the Swerve Stomp and uses POCKET POWER to make the comeback, before putting both New Level in a double headlock while battering Swerve with kicks. I love how they instantly got it and played along. They fight to the floor and Strong takes out Creed with a backbreaker on the apron, and Kofi hits everyone with a dive. Back in the ring, New Level with the double stomp from Creed off the top rope, and that finishes at 15:08. This was a little more subdued than last week’s banger with the Rascalz, but still a lot of fun. ***1/4

Afterwards, this brings out the Demand, as Ricochet complains about the New Level coming in and getting opportunities due to being in the same high school together or whatever. The beatdown seems imminent, but Hangman and Brodido quickly make the save and the heels retreat.

Meanwhile, Steven Borden explains why he wants to debut in AEW tonight and OH MY GOD he sounds exactly like his dad. I mean people say that about me too so I can understand, but it’s just eerie.

Meanwhile, the announcers talk about the life and loss off Andy “The Butcher” Williams, and Excalibur has a rough time getting through it.

Meanwhile, The Callis Family talks about their tag team matches tonight and Don tries to foster cooperation between his feuding members. And then Okada walks in and acts like a complete dick to Kyle Fletcher again.

Maya World, Hyan & Thunder Rosa v. Persephone, Hikaru Shida & Dr. Britt Baker DMD

Weird dynamic here as Britt is clearly a babyface with the fans, especially celebrating Rebel, but she’s working heel. Persephone and Rosa slug it out in the corner and Rosa gets a backslide for two. Hyan comes in with a legdrop for two, but Persephone powerslams her for two. Maya comes in with a moonsault on Shida for two, but a cheapshot turns the tide and we take a break. Back with Maya fighting out of the heel corner and Rosa gets the hot tag, but Britt attacks her from behind. The heels clear the ring and stop to celebrate as this drags to a halt and Britt in particular seems lost and not sure what to do. So everyone does spots on the floor, which leads to Rebel driving down to return Britt’s loaded glove for a giant babyface reaction. And Britt quickly finishes Hyan with the Lockjaw and dedicates it to Rebel at 10:33. And they drive off together in a really sweet moment. Not really any point in rating this one because it was all about the finish.

Meanwhile, Rebel takes a look back at her time in AEW and relationship with Britt, and tells us all about ALS and what a horrible disease it is.

AEW National title: Andrade el Idolo v. The Beast Mortos

Andrade takes Mortos to the floor with a headscissors and follows with another headscissors on the floor, which sets up our weekly selfie. Back in the ring, Mortos catches him with a backbreaker and clotheslines him onto the floor again before following with a dive, and we take a break. Back with Andrade finally taking off the pants, as requested by the fans, but he charges and gets caught with a samoan drop by Mortos, for two. Mortos with a lungblower for two. Andrade counters an electric chair into a rollup in a sloppy spot, and finishes with the DM at 7:42. Pretty much a squash for Andrade as Mortos loses yet again. *1/2. Andrade remains red hot but this arena is so quiet and empty that even he couldn’t make them sound like a big crowd. Afterwards, the Dogs try to attack, but Will Ospreay makes the save, and then Jon Moxley hits the ring, apparently to do commentary for the next match.

Will Ospreay v. David Finlay

This is an eliminator match and not a title match, thankfully. Finlay hits him with a running elbow in the corner and chokes him out on the ropes. They trade chops and Will clotheslines him to the floor and follows with a dive as we take a break. Back with a double down in the ring, but Will is up first with the corkscrew kick for two. Finlay blocks the Ozcutter and hits a backbreaker for two, but Ospreay gets a powerbomb for two. Finlay dodges the Hidden Blade and comes back with a lariat for two. Will comes back with the Ozcutter for two and a stunner into the Styles Clash for the pin at 10:00. Another one where the winner was never in doubt. Wasn’t bad but just never got past second gear and was honestly one of the weakest Ospreay matches in a long time. **1/2. This whole show has had kind of a weirdly subdued vibe to it, probably for obvious reasons.

Meanwhile, Brodido questions whether Hangman is really dedicated to the Trios titles, and he admits that it’s not his ultimate goal, but he’s still down to hang with them and gun for the belts again. I actually wonder if the MJF fake belt storyline might lead to Hangman winning that one to get his revenge on MJF and be “World champion” again in a way?

Mark Davis & Josh Alexander v. Darby Allin & Steven Borden

Borden certainly looks like a star, but he’s just starting so late. Borden starts with Davis and gets an impressive leapfrog before taking him down with an armdrag. Over to Darby, who double-teams Davis in the corner and hits a coffin splash, but Alexander chop blocks him and the heels go to work as we take a break. Back with the heels working Darby over and repeatedly slamming him. Darby cradles Davis for two, but Josh cuts off the tag and it’s a double down. So Davis takes out Borden on the floor to prevent that tag again, and Darby finally escapes them and it’s hot tag Sting Jr. He slams Davis onto Alexander and hits Davis with a superman punch off the stairs, showing good leaping. Back in the ring, he drops an elbow on Alexander for two. Davis goes to the top, so Borden hits a giant dropkick from the mat, but Alexander gets a rack bomb for two. But then Borden and Darby comes back with a combo coffin drop and death drop on Alexander and Borden gets the pin at 11:30. Nice finish there. Borden looked good, but like a mid-level celebrity wrestler type of good, not like a future World champion good. He’s got great dropkicks and shows charisma, so hopefully there’s something there. This was just a decently entertaining match, though. ***

Thekla joins us, sadly less drunk than last week, and she talks about getting her start in a punk band in Austria and then moving onto beating up dumb bitches like Willow. So Mercedes interrupts from the crowd and they agree that Willow sucks and is terrible, but then Willow comes out and chases Thekla off. So I guess they’re doing a three-way program.

Meanwhile, the Death Riders discuss the Ospreay situation and Daniel Garcia is still good with Will, but Gabe Kidd still harbors resentment. But then Will stops in and reveals that he asked Tony Khan for the title defense because he wants to get his win back.

Tables match: The Young Bucks v. Kyle Fletcher & Kevin Knight

Slugfest to start and the Bucks double-team Fletcher in the corner and send the heels to the floor for a double dive. Back in the ring, The Bucks hit Kyle with a double-team german suplex and send Knight to the floor to tease a table smash, but Fletcher saves and Matt dives onto them both. Back in the ring, Matt sets up a table in the corner and tries to suplex Knight through, but Fletcher saves again. Matt takes them to the floor and dives, but the heels catch him and tease another table smash before going with an apron bomb instead. Knight hits the Bucks with a dive over a table as we take a break. Back with Matt hitting a sliced bread on Kyle off the table and the Bucks double-team him with a senton but can’t get the table into position again. So they hit the double-team powerbomb onto the table, but the folded one so it doesn’t break. This match is so weird because normally you’d have a million tables broken by now but they’re teasing all these table spots but can only deliver one when they get to the finish. It doesn’t really work for AEW. Matt takes Fletcher to the apron for a DDT out there and that nearly goes horribly wrong but luckily no one died. Meanwhile the crowd is getting tired of the teases and wants to see some tables broken. I feel like it might be worth doing a variation where the winner is the one who breaks the MOST tables in a certain time period, like 10 minutes. Meltzer Driver and BTE Trigger on Fletcher, but there’s no pinfalls, so finally they powerbomb Knight through a table on the floor and he’s eliminated. And then Matt gets backdropped through a table on the floor and he’s gone. Fletcher hits Nick with a brainbuster in the ring and sets up the table in the corner again, but Nick superkicks him and hits a destroyer before putting Fletcher on the table. This brings out FTR to attack the Bucks, and Fletcher suplexes Nick through the table for the win at 14:44, although Fletcher was actually the one who went through the table. This one didn’t work for me at all. This format just doesn’t suit AEW. **1/2. And we finish with FTR attacking the Bucks, but Darby and Steven make the save as we wrap it up.

This felt like a complete throwaway show, like a house show level with a small crowd and a weird vibe all night. I wish the best to Rebel in her fight, though.