The SmarK Rant for AEW Dynamite – 09.30.26 (A Tribute to Pac)

The SmarK Rant for AEW Dynamite – 09.30.26

“A Tribute to Pac”

Live from Pittsburgh, PA

Your hosts are Excalibur and Tony Schiavone

Tony Schiavone joins us in the ring, sharing his memory of Pac, and we get a backstage promo from Jon Moxley after All Out, talking about how you can’t always win but you have to keep going. And he notes that in life, there are two kinds of eulogies: Those are that about the things you did, and those that are about who you are. And we get the last shot of Pac on AEW TV as he’s the last one out.

AEW Continental title: Jon Moxley v. Orange Cassidy

We get a heartbreaking shot of Pac’s empty chair in the tunnel for Moxley’s entrance. Damn. Moxley goes with the hammerlock and works the arm, but Orange takes him down with some armdrags of his own and a sunset flip for two. They trade takedowns and battle to a stalemate. They do the test of strength and Mox tries for the choke, but Orange rolls to the ropes and bails to the apron to escape. Back in the ring, Moxley puts him down with a back elbow and tosses him to the floor for a brawl out there as we take a break. Back with Moxley slugging away in the corner, but Orange runs him into the turnbuckles until Moxley dropkicks him off the apron and into the desk. So Mox tries to throw Orange into the ring, and Orange just keeps rolling to the other side in a callback to Orange’s first match with Pac. So Mox gets understandably frustrated by all the tomfoolery and shenanigans, allowing Orange to come back with a dive to the floor and then the DDT in the ring for two. Orange goes up and Mox does the lazy roll this time to escape to pay off the gag, and then suckers Orange into a cutter for a double down. Then it gets nasty as Orange breaks out the shin-breaking kicks, further annoying Moxley. So Mox GIVES IT RIGHT BACK, at least four times as hard. Orange has no choice but to go to his pockets, but Moxley finds a pair of middle fingers in HIS pockets. So Orange hits him with three Orange punches a rollup for two. Orange with the stunner, but Mox reverses to the choke and Orange goes to the crucifix for two. Orange loads up one more punch, but Moxley clobbers him with the running lariat for two. And then Mox puts him in the Brutalizer, but Orange counters into his OWN Brutalizer, so Mox powers out and curb stomps him. And the Death Rider finishes at 17:50 to retain. This match legit ruled and was a great tribute to Pac.

And then BRYAN DANIELSON return afterwards, already in tears, and he finally hugs it out with Moxley and buries their beef for Pac. Oh damn, this show.

Meanwhile, Hangman Page talks about meeting Pac for the first time and breaks down in tears.

Kevin Knight, Kyle Fletcher, Rocky Romero & Trent Berreta v. The Young Bucks, Hangman Page & Kenny Omega

The Family works on Nick with shots in the corner and Fletcher gets two from that, but the Bucks regroup and double-team Kyle and then Trent to take over. Rocky puts them on the floor with a double rana and stops to celebrate, but a pissed off Hangman and Omega trap him and beat on him with chops, reuniting as a team again. The heels bail to the floor and we get a four-way Terminator Dive. Back in the ring, the Bucks try more double-teaming, but Fletcher breaks up the party and Knight dives onto the Elite outside. RPG Vice with the Strong Zero on Matt for two as we take a break. Back with Matt making a comeback and fighting them all off before hitting Rocky with the northern lights suplexes. Knight and Fletcher collide in the corner and Page gets the hot tag and cleans house with cowboy shit and a shooting star on Knight for two. Back to Kenny for the HOT HAND, but Knight goes to the eyes to slow him down. Kenny responds with snapdragons on all of the heels, but the heels all regroup and hit their big moves on the Elite. But then Trent is left standing there helpless while trying the Strong Zero, and the Bucks superkick him and then hit a four-way superkick on Rocky. We get four dives on four heels and Kenny gets two on Trent off that. And it’s a Buckshot on Trent into the V-Trigger, and the BTE Trigger sets up the One Winged Angel to finish Trent at 14:21. This match also ruled.

Meanwhile, we get tributes from Cash Wheeler and Jay White.

Renee Paquette reads a statement from Pac’s family, and that’s of course absolutely heartbreaking stuff as this is a really heavy episode.

Swerve & The New Level join us, dedicating their Trios title belts to Pac’s memory.

Meanwhile, Ricochet remembers Pac, setting up…

Will Ospreay v. Ricochet

Will and Ric hug it out to start and then go full flip on each other for the stalemate. Ricochet with a bodypress for two and they trade chops, but Will takes him to the floor with a rana and follows with the dive. Back in the ring, Ricochet sends Will to the floor this time and gets his own dive, and we take a break. Back with them slugging it out and Ospreay hits him with a corkscrew kick and springboard elbow for two. Ospreay with the stunner and DDT for a double down, and then Ricochet counters the Stormbreaker with a rana for two. Ric with a backbreaker into a shooting star, and the Phoenix splash gets two. That was some incredible pinpoint precision. They fight to the top and Will takes him down with a rana, but Ric lands on his feet and hits a german suplex. But Will hits his own suplex and they trade poison ranas and it’s another double down. Back up with a slugfest and they trade kicks, but Will counters a rollup into the Blue Thunder Bomb for one. Ricochet with a backslide driver and a powerbomb for two. To the top for a shooting star press, and that gets two. But then Ospreay hits him with the Styles Clash for two, and then goes up to finish with the Black Arrow at 16:14. This match also, unsurprisingly, ruled.

Meanwhile, Will Ospreay talks about first seeing Pac while doing backyard wrestling, inspiring him to become a wrestler.

Persephone, Dr. Britt Baker DMD & Mercedes Mone v. Thunder Rosa, Hyan & Marina Shafir

Hyan and Rosa double-team Persephone to start, but Persephone dropkicks Rosa for one. Over to Britt, who slugs on Rosa in the corner. But then Marina comes in and she’s a fired up babyface who cleans house as we take a break. Back with Mercedes working on Rosa with a double knees for two. Persephone comes in with a chinlock, but Rosa fights back on Mone for a double down and makes the hot tag to Shafir. Marina beats on Mone with kicks and a german suplex, but Persephone breaks up the Mother’s Milk submission. Everyone comes in and trade big moves, leading to Britt hitting Marina with the curb stomp. That sets up the Lockjaw, but Marina powers out of it and puts Britt in the Brutalizer for the submission at 11:00. Nice to see Marina working through grief by beating people up as a babyface. She worked surprisingly well in that role.

Meanwhile, Swerve shares his memories of Pac and his perfectionism.

Mark Davis, Jake Doyle, Josh Alexander, Lance Archer & WARDLOW v. Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, Daniel Garcia, Gabe Kidd & Bryan Danielson

So Bryan returns to the ring to join the Death Riders, paying off the hug from earlier, and I wasn’t prepared for this main event. Big brawl to start and Garcia gets trapped in the heel corner and beaten up there. Over to Kidd, who is the babyface for the only time in his career here, and he beats on Archer with headbutts. Over to Claudio and he deadlifts Alexander into a suplex before bringing Bryan in with a flying knee. Claudio with the Giant Swing into Yuta’s dropkick for two. Wardlow hits Yuta with a slam and we take a break. Back with Danielson getting a hot tag and going into full speed mode with the Yes Kicks on Alexander, but Josh counters him into an anklelock. So Bryan counters into a crossface, but Doyle breaks that up with forearms to put him down. Wardlow powerbombs Garcia to set up a showdown with Claudio, but Claudio hits him with a flying forearm to send him to the floor. Danielson is fired up again and he kicks Archer down and gives Garcia the hot tag, and Danny beats on Doyle with chops but can’t hit a piledriver. Davis and Wardlow get the advantage, but Danielson and Yuta mend fences for stereo knees on them. Marina puts Archer in an armbar and Claudio hits Archer with a dive. And then Garcia POWERS UP on Doyle with the dance and the Death Riders all hit him with corner clotheslines and even Marina joins in. Kidd with the lariat on Doyle and Garcia gets the Dragon tamer while Claudio curb stomps him, and that finishes at 15:09. This match ruled.

There is no chance that the Death Riders will ever be booed again after this show. Zero.

And we finish with a video tribute to Pac and it’s just amazing stuff featuring his entire career (minus one notable period) and his sausage dog.

Well this one wrecked me in the best way. An episode of TV that will probably go down in history, paying tribute to a great wrestler and a great man. RIP, Pac.