The SmarK Rant for AEW Dynamite – 12.25.24

The SmarK Rant for AEW Dynamite – 12.25.24

(Originally written 05.05.25)

Busy watching the Stanley Cup finals last night, so here’s one last bit of catchup from 2024 with the Christmas Dynamite episode from last year so I can finish off that year’s archives. I’ve been sitting on this one for a month waiting for a time to post it, so might as well use it now.

“Dynamite on 34^th Street”

Another one I neglected last year, although I’m not sure what was up with missing this one. Probably busy with some silly thing or another.

Taped from the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York

Your hosts are Excalibur, Tony Schiavone & Taz

Continental Class Gold League: Will Ospreay v. Brody King

They’ve got a LOT of stuff to pack into this episode, so we’re off and running without even an opening. Ospreay tries a rana and Brody blocks it and hurls him out of the corner. Will tries a slam and Brody falls back on him for two, but he tries a senton and misses. Ospreay puts him on the floor with a rana and they fight out there, as Brody slams him onto the side of the stairs, which looked SICK. Even Tony exclaims “Oh fudge!” which is hardcore for him. Back in the ring, they slug it out and we take a break. Back with Ospreay hitting the Sky Twister to the floor, and back in with a springboard elbow for two. Will tries a piledriver and Brody backdrops out of that, and they trade chops as Ospreay gets nowhere. Brody puts him on the top rope and chops him to the floor, as Will bumps off his head on the way down, and then follows with the body attack on the railing. Back in, Brody with the cannonball for two. Brody maintains wrist control while beating on Ospreay with chops, but Will fights back with short kicks and then adds hooking kicks. Brody tries a lariat and Will spins him into a Styles Clash, which gets two. Hidden Blade is countered into a lariat, however, and the Ganzo Bomb gets two. Another lariat gets two. Ospreay hits a Hidden Blade for one, and another one gets two. So now Ospreay is really pissed and teases the Tiger Driver, before hitting the Stormbreaker instead to finish at 17:29. Hell of an opener that eliminated King from the tournament. ***3/4

Meanwhile, The Hurt Syndicate learns that they’ve been banned from the building in advance of Shelton’s match tonight.

Continental Classic Gold League: Darby Allin v. Ricochet

Still early in the heel run for Ricochet, with the fans mostly annoyed by him still rather than the outright hatred that would come later. They trade takedowns to start and exchange headlocks until we take a break. Back with the fans still mocking Ricochet’s baldness via toilet paper, as Darby yanks him off the apron, but Ric sends him into the railing while the crowd gets kind of distracted by themselves. Back in the ring, Ricochet with a springboard clothesline and he goes up with a 450 that misses, and Darby springboards onto him with a crossbody for two. Darby with a dive, and Ricochet blocks him with a knee to the back of the head and puts him on a table and puts him through with a 630 to the floor. We take another break off that. Back with them slugging it out on the top rope, as Darby rakes the back to fight him off and brings him down with a Code Red for two. Darby goes up again and Ricochet rolls away from that while Darby’s rib tape falls apart, but he misses a springboard 450 and Darby takes him down with an armbar. Ricochet barely makes the ropes as we have 1:00 left in the match, and he comes back with a northern lights suplex, but Darby rolls into a Scorpion Death Drop for the double down. Darby goes up with a coffin drop off that, but it’s a draw at 20:00 and Darby is eliminated while Ricochet clinches the semi-finals at the PPV. I wasn’t a fan of all the tables and ga-ga in a supposed technical tournament match here, but they worked really hard. ***1/2

Continental Classic Gold League: Komander v. Claudio Castagnoli

Komander coming into this one with the big goose egg, although he’s replacing Juice Robinson anyway and thus playing with house money. Komander dropkicks the knee and walks the ropes, but lands in a delayed suplex from Claudio, so delayed they should call it my review of this show. That gets two. Claudio takes him to the top for an amazing exploding gutbuster off the top rope, and that gets two. Claudio goes to a chinlock and blocks a rana attempt, but Komander manages to leverage him to the floor. So Claudio slams him on the apron, only for Komander to take him into the ringpost with a headscissors. So Claudio runs him into the railing in revenge, and Komander regroups with the dive off the post to take him out. Back in the ring, Komander counters the uppercut with a facejam and goes up again, but Claudio brings him down via YAMBAG CITY. Another shot to the yambag via the top rope puts him on the floor, but Komander finds Darby’s jacket under the ring, which contains brass knuckles, and he knocks Claudio out cold with those and finishes with a shooting star at 7:29 to earn his first 3 points at the end of his run. That was a great finish, as Darby had whispered something to Komander on the way by, in fact tipping him off to the trap he left for Claudio. The match was OK, mostly a squash for Claudio up until the clever finish. **. This brings out the Death Riders for the beatdown, but the Orange and White Connection make the save and clean house in advance of World’s End.

Continental Classic Blue League: Shelton Benjamin v. Kazuchika Okada

They trade armdrags and battle to a stalemate to start, so Okada bails and suckers Shelton into a DDT on the floor. Back in, Okada goes up and Shelton brings him down with a suplex as we take a break. Back with them slugging it out, until Okada puts him down with a back elbow and follows with a DDT out of the corner for two. Shelton rolls him into the anklelock and Okada powers out of that and into a top wristlock of his own. Okada puts him down and teases the Rainmaker, but then goes with a german suplex instead, but Shelton comes back with his own and that gets the crowd on his side. Crowd wants more of them, so Shelton obliges and follows with the knee strike in the corner, which Okada counters into a small package for two. Shelton keeps coming with forearms, but walks into the dropkick. Rainmaker tries again, but Shelton reverses that into a flatliner for two. But then Okada hits him with the Rainmaker outta nowhere and gets the pin to advance to the semi-finals at 13:40. Usual second-gear Okada TV match but you can’t fault what he brought to the PPV payoff. ***

Meanwhile, Swerve chats with Renee about 2024, but Ricochet interrupts and annoys everyone.

Meanwhile, Chris Jericho gives us a New York Minute, accepting Anthony Bowens’ challenge for Collision in the Grand Apple.

Toni Storm v. Taya Valkyrie

Toni is still in her amnesiac phase, and Taya offers a handshake and then turns on her and slugs her down. Taya with a hip attack in the corner for two and she wraps Toni’s leg around the post as we take a break. Back with Taya tying up rookie Toni on the mat, but Toni slugs her down and comes back with the hip attack. Taya fights out of Storm Zero, and hits Toni with a lariat, but Toni executes the SMALL PACKAGE OF DOOM for the pin at 8:00. Guys I think Toni might not be entirely honest about her memory loss. **1/4

Meanwhile, Christopher Daniels offers his help to Hangman Page at World’s End, because Page has no friends and might need one.

Continental Classic Blue League: Daniel Garcia v. Kyle Fletcher

Fan at ringside with the SAVAGE takedown of Fletcher via a “Kyle ONLY likes Home Alone 3” sign. You ain’t coming back from that one. They fight for the lockup in the corner and Fletcher bails to the floor. Back in, Kyle puts him down with head kicks and Garcia gets all fired up and slugs back, but Kyle dumps him to the floor and hits him with an apron bomb as we take a break. Back with Fletcher working on the neck, but Garcia slugs back and dodges a charging Fletcher. They fight on the floor and Garcia gets a John Woo Jones dropkick on the railing, and back in with the draping neckbreaker for two. Fletcher with a dragon suplex and he tries a corner clothesline, but Garcia counters him into a guillotine. So Kyle takes him to the apron and hits a brainbuster on the apron, the HARDEST PART OF THE RING, and back in with a Last Ride for two. Garcia tries the Sharpshooter, but Kyle shoves him off and kicks him in the nuts to set up a brainbuster for two. To the top and Fletcher tries a superplex, but Garcia reverses to a rear naked choke and then loses his grip and they both just kind of land on the mat. They slug it out and Danny throws chops, but Kyle superkicks him, so Garcia rolls him into the Dragon Tamer. But Garcia leans back too far and Fletcher throttles him and rams his head into the mat to break. They trade cradles and Garcia gets two, but Kyle gets the running boot in the corner, and then finishes with the turnbuckle brainbuster at 16:19 and advances to the semi-finals by winning the Blue League. Another solid match tonight, but another one where it never really exceeded “good” to any degree. ***1/4

And we finish with Moxley doing the go-home promo for World’s End, telling the three challengers to take time and “look up from their phone” before explaining why he keeps the belt in a briefcase. And nearly six months later, it’s still in there.

If you’re looking for a good, “bunch of matches in the ring” type of show with minimal talking, this was for you. Putting the conclusion of the Contential Classic qualifying rounds on Christmas Day was a weird choice, though, which is of course why it took me so long to get around to it.