The SmarK Rant for AEW Dynamite – 10.28.26

The SmarK Rant for AEW Dynamite – 10.28.26

Before we begin, the Masked Reviewer has a new video up about what a pain in the ass streaming wrestling has become   Give it a look!

“Fright Night 2026”

Live from St. Louis, MO

Your hosts are Excalibur, Taz & Tony Schiavone

Jon Moxley & Daniel Garcia v. Jay White & David Finlay

I suppose the name “The Cut” is slightly less terrible than “The Last Outfit” but neither one is winning any awards at the marketing department this year.  I feel like if they really couldn’t get the rights to the Bullet Club, then “The Blade Runners” should have at least been in the running.  Jay declines to face Moxley to start and lets Finlay have a go, and Mox beats on him with chops as a result.  Over to Garcia for some dragon screws on White, but then Mox comes back in and White runs away again.  Finlay takes out the knee and the Cut double-teams Mox in their corner and White finally comes in and works him over.  White stomps him down for two and goes to a chinlock, but Moxley suplexes out and Garcia comes in and runs wild.  Corner clothesline and he slugs away on both and puts White in the Dragon tamer, but Finlay pulls him out to save and we take a break.  Back with Garcia making a comeback and making the hot tag to Mox, and he’s a house of fire.  Lariat and a delayed piledriver follow, as Moxley really embraces the babyface role and works the crowd further.  Mox with the sleeper and he turns into the armbar and then a triangle, but White kicks him in the face to break.  The Riders regroup and double on Jay with the corner clotheslines, into the cutter on the Cutter.  Garcia gets two from that.  So this brings Ace Austin out to run interference, but Yuta takes care of him, and then Clark Connors spears Garcia behind the ref’s back and the Blade Runner finishes at 14:11.  Oh lord I really hope we’re not getting the House of Torture shit from this group every week now.  That’s one of the reasons I stopped paying attention to New Japan after a while.  **1/2

Afterwards, the full Cut group has a giant brawl with the Death Riders, with Claudio cleaning house because he’s awesome, and Mox lays out the challenge for Anarchy in the Arena at Full Gear.

Meanwhile, Willow and Wrathlander challenge the Triangle and Dominion to Blood and Guts, although as Stat notes, they’re facing their own partners at Full Gear for the tag team titles so that’s kind of awkward.

Kyle Fletcher v. Jungle Jack Perry

I take a quick World Series break and congratulate the Brewers on finishing off the Rays.  This one is for you, Mr. Baseball!  Kyle goes for a hug with Don Callis before the match, and Don notes that he “gives his men what they need, when they need it” because he’s “very responsive.”  So then Jack hugs Taz as well to even things out.  Perry grabs a headlock and gets overpowered, and then Kyle slams out of a wristlock.  Perry dropkicks him to the floor and tries a dive, but Kyle catches him, so Perry slides under the ring and then reemerges with a dropkick into the railing. Very smooth.  Perry hangs him on the barricade and dropkicks him off, but Fletcher hits him with a leg lariat on the way into the ring and knocks him to the floor again.  We take a break and return with Kyle in control with FULL BODY LIFTS AND SLAMS, but Perry fights back with chops and sends him to the floor for a series of dives.  But Fletcher catches him on a third one and powerbombs him onto the apron, with an impressive aerial camera shot, but Perry fights back with a rana from the apron to the floor.  Moonsault to the floor follows and back in with another moonsault that gets two.  Jack misses the knee and Fletcher hits him with a suplex, but Perry comes back again, so Kyle boots him in the corner and follows with a brainbuster for two.  They head to the top and Fletcher sets up for the brainbuster, but Jack reverses to a powerbomb for two.  I believe Jack was biting him in the crotchal region there.  Just like Wrestling at the Chase!  Fletcher backdrops out of a piledriver and hits a poison rana, and then reverses a Michinoku Driver into the Snare Trap.  Kyle makes the ropes, so Jack tries for a Muscle Buster but can’t power him up.  Instead it’s a rana, but Kyle blocks that, and Jack finishes the move on the second try.  But Kyle blocks a dive with a superkick and lawn darts him, setting up the top rope brainbuster to finish at 16:27.  Kind of missed the buckle there, Kyle.  Great match but you know Perry had no chance here and it took away from some of the near falls.  ****

Afterwards, Kyle celebrates with Davis & Doyle, and challenges Will Ospreay for the World title at Full Gear, and you know that’s gonna be a ripper.

Meanwhile, we get a video package for Blood & Guts, narrated by Dean Malenko, who is sounding pretty rough.

The New Level join us, and Creed is pretty worried about Texas Death, because you have to die to lose as far as he knows.  And he’s not into that.  Kofi notes that it’s not actually how that works, plus they mostly like Brody and Bandido and even Hangman.  But then Brody hits the ring and reveals that Bandido is missing, and so is Swerve.  But Hangman also hits the ring and pleads with Brody not to give in and accept Texas Death, because it nearly ended his career and took years off his life.  And then we cut to the back, as a bloodied and unmasked Bandido has been assaulted by Swerve and left for dead.  And Swerve still wants Texas Death.  The New Level are still pleading innocence, and Hangman still refuses to give in to Swerve’s demand.  Man Kofi and Creed have no idea what Swerve is dragging them into, do they?  They started out with Swerve being all fun-loving like them and now the realization is setting in.

Meanwhile, the Don Callis Family run down the Family business for the week.

Best of Five Match #3:  FTR v. The Motor City Machine Guns

The Guns double-team Dax and work on the injured shoulder, and then hit Cash with a double kick and chase FTR to the floor.  Back in the ring, Dax beats on Shelley in the corner with chops and hits a snap suplex for two. Shelley fires back with chops and we get a pair of do-see-do spots, both of which end badly for FTR as we take a break.  Back with Sabin hitting them with a dive and back in with a crossbody on Dax for two.  Small package gets two.  Dax with a slingshot powerbomb on Shelley, but Sabin breaks it up and cradles Dax for two.  FTR regroups and sets up the Powerplex, but Shelley breaks it up, so Cash runs him into the post and they finish the move on Sabin.  That gets two.  Dax escapes a double-team and runs them together, but Shelley gets a sunset flip on Dax for two.  FTR collides and Shelley gets a rollup for two off that.  Guns try their own Shatter Machine, but FTR breaks that up, but they hit it on a second try and it gets two on Dax.  Neckbreaker/splash combo gets two, as Cash makes the last second save.  Cash rams the Guns into each other and Dax cradles Shelley, but he blocks it with his own cradle for the pin at 13:38. So the Guns are up 2-1 after another classic old school battle.  ****1/4.  Man these guys make me want to go back and review old Rock N Roll v. Tully & Arn matches.

Afterwards, the teams engage in sportsmanship, but then Stokely tosses powder in their faces and FTR lays them out and injures Shelley’s knee to set up the next match’s storyline.

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

Tommaso Ciampa joins us and takes credit for Andrade not being here tonight, but he’ll be sending a message via Matt Sydal on Collision.  But first, Ilja Dragunov interrupts, and he would like to fight TONIGHT IN THIS VERY RING.  But of course, Ciampa isn’t into it and leaves.

Meanwhile, the Conglomeration discusses their standing with the Cut and Roddy is sick of being laid out, so they issue an open challenge for Collision.  And wouldn’t you know, Tony Khan already has the match booked!

Marina Shafir v. Rachel Armstrong

Marina kicks her in the face and whips her into the corner before taking her down with judo throws over and over.  Double underhook into a shoulderbreaker and the Mother’s Milk finishes at 1:40.  Afterwards, this brings out Mercedes, who unwisely starts some shit with Marina, which allows the Cut to attack a distracted Moxley at ringside.  So the Cut all attacks Yuta, but Claudio comes down with a trash can, bounces it off Austin Gunn’s head, and then catches it on the rebound in an incredibly timed spot.  And then he runs wild, demolishing the Cut like a machine and no-selling everything, until Finlay finally lays him out with the Whacking Stick to stop him.  And they make it worse, pulling up the mats and hitting him with a Blade Runner on the concrete to put him down for good.  Gotta keep putting the heat on the Cut. Claudio goes out on a stretcher, so hopefully he can find some help from someone to get revenge.

TNT title:  Darby Allin v. Josh Alexander

Josh attacks at the bell and beats on Darby outside and runs him into the barricade.  Back in the ring, Darby escapes a catapult and double stomps Josh, but they head to the apron and Alexander suplexes him on the apron and sends him to the floor again before bending the arm around the post.  He works the arm and goes to the top, but Darby shoves him off and into the apron as we take a break.  Back with Alexander trying another suplex on the apron, but Darby fights out of it, only for Josh to hit him with another suplex on the floor instead.  Darby fights back with a tope suicida as it feels like they’ve kind of lost the crowd after trying to follow the giant brawl in the last segment.  Back in the ring, Darby bears the headgear off Alexander and takes him into the Scorpion Deathlock, but Josh makes the ropes.  Darby tries the immediate coffin drop, but Alexander bails to the apron, so Darby hits him with a coffin drop out there instead and it’s a double down on the floor.  Josh sets up a pair of chairs out there and hits an absolutely insane tombstone off the apron and through the open chairs, but somehow that only gets two.  So this brings out the Callis Family, but STEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVEN Borden saves and takes out RPG Vice while Alexander puts Darby into the anklelock. But Darby rolls him over into a cradle and pins him to retain at 14:40.  I wasn’t feeling this one at all, as they built to the ridiculous piledriver spot despite Alexander never being a serious challenger who was any threat to actually win the match.  It was fine in the sense of Darby taking crazy bumps to get it over but they just never clicked.  **1/4

Meanwhile, Steven Borden wasn’t forced into Blood and Guts, and he comes by two ring cage matches via his family heritage.

TBS title:  Persephone v. Queen Aminata

This feels like a title change given how hard they’ve been pushing Aminata lately.  Also we are in an incredibly long overrun, as this match doesn’t even start until 15 minutes into the third hour.  Persephone works on the neck, but Aminata gets the chocolate kisses and follows with a running boot.  Britt runs interference and allows Persephone to drop Aminata on the top turnbuckle and choke her out as we take a break.  Back with Aminata coming back with a neckbreaker and going to the middle rope with a diving stomp for two.  Persephone hits a spear and rips off the K-Tape on Aminata’s neck before hitting a german suplex for two.  But then Aminata hits her with the running boot and Persephone bumps to the floor to escape the pin, so Aminata chops her into a chair and hits a running dropkick off the apron.  But this allows Britt Baker to grab the TBS title and knock her out, and back in Persephone goes up with the moonsault for two. The crowd gets behind Aminata as she fires up, hits the headbutt, and finishes with Off With Her Head to win the TBS title at 11:34.  And all the babyfaces come out to celebrate with her in a nice moment, really making her look like a star here.  A good main event to end a great show, as they beat the hell out of each other.  ***1/2

The stuff with the Cut and the Death Riders felt very much like a Nitro-era crazy brawl and the matches delivered tonight, leading to a big moment for Aminata in the main event and a hot crowd all night.

Next week:  Blood and/or Guts!