The SmarK Rant for AEW Dynamite – 10.30.24

The SmarK Rant for AEW Dynamite – 10.30.24

“FRIGHT NIGHT DYNAMITE”

Meanwhile, the BCC do another moody opening promo, but Orange Cassidy interrupts and he’s had enough of Jon Moxley going after the young guns of AEW. So he’s going to protect everyone by going after Mox by himself and putting the AEW World title into his own backpack. And he still doesn’t need a catchphrase. I don’t see him winning but he deserves a PPV main event. Technically he had that three-way with Kenny Omega years ago but that hardly counts given the timeframe and position on the card.

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Your hosts are Excalibur, Daddy Magic & Tony Schiavone

Meanwhile, Mercedes has full confidence in Kamille tonight.

Adam Cole v. Buddy Matthews

I’m not entirely clear on what the status of the Undisputed Kingdom is at this point, but I think they kind of turned babyface along with Cole. They fight for the lockup and trade tackle attempts, but Cole teases a superkick and Buddy backs off. So like, is Cole literally allergic to the gym and the tanning bed or what? I’m not a Vince McMahon body guy to any degree but he’s getting so thin and pale that he barely looks like a wrestler anymore. He looks like he sprayed himself with Trump’s orange pancake makeup, but all over his body. Buddy sends him to the floor and Adam teases some ankle issues, but Buddy hits him with a kick from the apron as we take a break. Back with Buddy hitting a suplex and Cole reversing to the neckbreaker. They slug it out on the apron and Cole hits a DDT out there on THE HARDEST PART OF THE RING and they head to the floor. Back in, Cole gets a Heakseeker for two as the crowd is actually chanting for Buddy. Cole tries the Panama Sunrise and Buddy blocks that and goes to work on the injured ankle. Cole gets checked by the doctor while the crowd makes the count for the referee and declares Buddy the winner. So the doctor tells him to call the match and helps Adam to the back, but Buddy calls him a fragile little bitch and dares him to come back. Cole obliges and Buddy beats on him with kicks and destroys the ankle some more, but Adam suckers him into a superkick. But then Buddy gets his own knee strike and curb stomp for two. So the doctor tries to stop the match again, but Cole hits more superkicks and a shining wizard for two. The crowd continues chanting for the heel, as he blocks the Sunrise and hits Cole with a corner powerbomb and another curb stomp, which only gets one. Cole with the Panama Sunrise, but Buddy bumps to the floor, so Adam hits a Sunrise from the apron. Back in the ring, Cole finishes with The Boom at 15:32. He better hope the Costco dorks don’t kick his ass too for using The Boom. This was a fucking disaster, as Adam Cole is a completely unlikeable babyface like this. People want him to be an arrogant dickhead, not whatever this fragile little man child character is supposed to be. Buddy was awesome here and carried it completely. **

Meanwhile, Christopher Daniels relates how he choked against the Young Bucks when he was in the same situation as Private Party, but Zay and Quen promise not to make the same mistakes.

Meanwhile, Adam Cole and the Kingdom (who I guess are indeed babyfaces) regroup in the dressing room and Cole continues whining about MJF betraying him and says that he had to teach MJF a lesson by turning on him. This storyline might be even stupider than the Devil if that’s possible.

Kyle Fletcher joins us to call out Will Ospreay, but Mark Davis finally returns to the show instead. Kyle continues drinking the Callis Kool-Aid and offers Mark a spot in the Don Callis family, but Mark isn’t into the idea and Fletcher warns him that a day of reckoning is coming. Oh man he’s gonna get Jannetty’d and I don’t like his chances after that.

Meanwhile, Hangman Page remains very angry at Jay White and takes full credit for putting Jay on the shelf. He also points out that there’s no way to counter Hangman going crazy and lighting his house on fire the same way you can counter a dragon-screw. Fair point.

The Blackpool Combat Club joins us and Moxley points out that HE challenged ORANGE for the title, not the other way around. Also he wants to make Orange into a leader because he’s sick of AEW people being all fat and happy with their paydays. So to prove his point, the BCC suddenly turns on Yuta again and tries to break his neck, prompting Orange to make the save and get his ass beat. But of course Yuta was in on it and puts the boots to Orange while the Dark Order tries to save and also gets destroyed. Darby Allin rappels from the rafters and tries to save, but it takes the combined forces of Private Party and Top Flight to chase them off. This BCC storyline is just making everyone in AEW look like a bunch of second rate midcarders and cannon fodder. And then we roll right into…

AEW World tag team title: The Young Bucks v. Private Party

God this is only the second match of the show and we’re an hour into this episode. Bucks double-team Zay to start, but Private Party clears the ring and Zay hits them with a dive off Quen. They brawl on the floor and Matthew gets the ringbell, but Quen steals it, only to accidentally knock out Zay by mistake. Back in the ring, Nick goes to work on Quen while Zay is busted open, so Matt smashes his face into the stairs a few times to work on the cut. Back in the ring, Bucks have some miscommunication, but regroup with a falcon arrow on Zay outside and a superplex on Quen inside for two. We take a break and return with Zay making a comeback in the ring and the Bucks are laid out for stereo 450s that get two. Bucks come back with the cool pendulum powerbomb for two on Zay. Risky Business gets two. Quen comes back with dives on the Bucks outside as he goes crazy, but the Bucks hit him with a Doomsday Device off the apron and then drag him to the entrance so they can force a countout. And then Okada adds a tombstone by the tombstones for good measure. So Zay has to go it alone and the Bucks give him their own Gin & Juice, for two. It’s SUPERKICK PARTY time, and that gets two. EVP Trigger is foiled by Zay collapsing and cradling Matt for two. Bucks try the Driver, but Zay rolls Matt for two, and then the EVP Trigger gets two. So Zay fires up again without Quen, who is crawling for his life, but Matt hits the One Winged Angel for two. Quen actually makes the save, but Nick gets rid of him. But Quen fights back again, and the Gin & Juice on Nick finally gives them the AEW tag team titles at 18:11. I didn’t like the build but HOLY SHIT was this a great match that did everything possible to convince you that they were losing and then pulled off the miracle. ****3/4

Meanwhile, Penelope Ford and Jamie Hayter have a face to face before their match next week. Hayter hasn’t exactly had a ton of momentum since coming back.

The Learning Tree joins us to celebrate his ROH World title win last week and takes more shots at Jay Briscoe. Did you know it got FOUR STARS in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter?

Meanwhile, Jack Perry and Daniel Garcia have words backstage, but the Elite are busy shredding documents and need Jack’s help.

Kamille v. Kris Statlander

Kamille puts her down with a tackle to start, but Kris pops up and chases her to the apron. Kamille necks her out there and we take a break. Back with Statlander hitting an F5 for two. Kris goes up and misses the 450, and Kamille hits a Rough Rider for two. Kamille with a torture rack bomb for two, but Kris finishes with the tombstone at 6:02. This was not great. *. Afterwards, Mercedes lays her out and tells Kamille to get lost.

Meanwhile, Kip Sabian joins the Patriarchy as he turns on Hook.

Meanwhile, Mark Briscoe lets us know that the word of the day is “instability”, which Jericho has a lot of because he keeps talking about Jay. So next week, it’s the Learning Tree v. Conglomeration in a Fight Without Honor.

Meanwhile, the Bucks make a hasty retreat and they’re gonna be working from home from now on. And poor Cutler is left alone with the BCC and it doesn’t go very well for him. This storyline is so weird and WWE-like and I’m just not a fan.

Swerve Strickland v. Shelton Benjamin

They fight for a takedown and Shelton tries to beat him down, but Swerve takes him down with a tijeras and Shelton retreats. Shelton suplexes him over the top and they fight to the floor, where Swerve goes after the arm, but Shelton smashes him into the railing and apron to take over. Back in with a backdrop from Shelton, but Swerve fights back with a swinging kick before Shelton knees him to the floor and we take a break. Back with Shelton hitting a release german in the ring, but Swerve rolls him up for two and hits the spinning kick to make the comeback. Swerve with the springboard elbow and a missile dropkick for two. Shelton with a kimura attempt while Excalibur tries to call the match at the same time as he frantically reads off upcoming matches. Shelton with a guillotine DDT for two. They trade kick attempts and Swerve hits the House Call and a 450 for two. But Shelton goes right to a german suplex, and then Swerve hits a flatliner for the double down. Swerve is up first, but he goes up and Shelton follows him up. Swerve powerbombs him and follows with the Swerve Stomp to finish at 14:08. Weird that they beat Shelton so soon. Match was good but never really hit that second gear. ***. And then of course, MVP makes the call and Bobby Lashley makes his debut to complete the Hurt Syndicate. And we get another heavy heat heel beatdown to end the show, as they’re leaning on the HEAT a lot right now.

The tag title match was a classic, but MAN there was a lot of talking in that first hour and a lot of heel dominance and this show is really feeling like someone doing a version of WWE circa 2018 right now and it’s kind of exhausting to watch. I’ve been feeling a little burned on the direction as it is and this isn’t helping.