Chair Shots With Killem Faulkner: Atlantic City Dynamite

Hyping up your weekly programming is pretty much standard in the wrestling biz, but AEW provided more reason than usual for fans to get excited for this week’s Dynamite. Tony Khan spent the week hyping up a big “forbidden door” signing (which, okay, I’m not sure he totally understands what that term means, but it was exciting nonetheless), there were two big title matches scheduled, and a couple of major storylines promised to reach new heights as the Inner Circle met to hash out their grievances and MJF basked in the glory (possible foreshadowing pun?) of his big win over CM Punk in Chicago last week. Sorry, two big wins over CM Punk in Chicago, as I’m sure he would insist I mention. But, as I would hope we all know by now, massive hype doesn’t necessarily translate into a successful product, so let’s take a look at what worked and what didn’t from this edition of Dynamite from Atlantic City, NJ.

Best Match of the Night

Hey, remember how last week I said it would be great if the best matches of the night weren’t just the opener and the main event? Apparently Tony Khan read that article because it happened this very week! Okay, so the main event was still a banger, but for my money, the best match of the night was actually in the middle of the card. I would also like to single out Isiah Kassidy’s match as an honorable mention, but since I can’t talk about who his opponent was until the next segment, I won’t say any more about it for now. Instead, let’s talk about the main event, which saw Lance Archer challenge for the AEW World Championship against Adam Page in a Texas Deathmatch. I guess Atlantic City is in a northern part of Texas that I’m not aware of. Anyway, this was a way better match than it had any business being, not to disrespect Page and Archer’s skills in the ring, but because there was virtually no chance Hangman’s title reign was going to come to an end this early, especially not (again, with all due respect) to the Murderhawk Monster. Despite the lack of drama about the ultimate finish, this was one of those matches that takes the audience for a heck of a ride even though the destination was never in doubt. I get that deathmatches aren’t for everyone, and sometimes it feels like the level of ultraviolence and craziness is just covering for a lack of real stakes or interest in the match, but this really felt like a main event caliber match that just happened to also be a deathmatch. The match started off hot with Page putting Archer through a pane of glass before their entrances could even play, and as soon as the match reached the ring, the champ hit the Buckshot Lariat to nearly finish the match off in one move. From there, Archer and Page went to war, battering one another with kendo sticks, trash cans, barbed wire, and even a fork, which Archer used to rake his opponent’s forehead before sticking it in his mouth in one of the grossest spots you’ll ever see. The stairs also featured prominently as Archer slammed Page onto the side of them with the Blackout – the way Page bounced off and the steps bent under his body was one of the more sickening sights of the match. Dan Lambert and Jake Roberts both got involved in their own ways, though Archer seems to be more on Lambert’s side than Roberts’ at this point considering he stopped his one-time mentor from hitting a DDT on the outside, which led to a tense faceoff between the two. I would never want to give Lambert credit for anything, but taking down the top rope to prevent Page from hitting his finisher again was a smart move, even if the champ was eventually able to hit another Buckshot Lariat over the referee’s back to propel himself and Archer through one of the tables set up outside the ring. Page was able to reach his feet before the ref counted to ten while Archer remained motionless on the outside, allowing the champ to barely retain despite the lengthy physical battle in which both men bled profusely and put each other through hell in pursuit of the company’s top prize. It may not have been a technical classic, but it was an intense, well worked match by two men willing to pull out all the stops to put on an entertaining match, and of course the right man won in the end despite the fact that it was much closer than many would have expected beforehand.

For my money, the best match of the night (which was not the opener or the main event but actually the third match on the card) was CM Punk and Jon Moxley vs. FTR. It must be said that FTR is arguably the best tag team on the planet at the moment, and it’s hard to remember the last time they had a bad or even below average match. Punk being forced to find a partner besides Darby Allin or Sting, who have been loosely affiliated with him ever since Allin won his respect in his debut match at All Out, led to some speculation about who he would choose as his partner. He apparently considered some…uh…interesting alternatives before landing on Mox, who the commentators pointed out has a win over MJF on his record and, heck, is pretty much always spoiling for a fight. Not surprisingly, when you put four incredibly talented wrestlers in the ring together and give them plenty of time to operate, the results tend to be good. There was plenty of action inside and outside of the ring, which referee Aubrey Edwards was incredibly forgiving about, only administering a count after FTR put Moxley through the timekeeper’s table and got back in the ring while he struggled to his feet. But hey, at least it was justified by the fact that the match couldn’t have had an inconclusive double-countout finish considering Punk’s rematch with MJF (…er, Wardlow? I’m still not entirely clear) was on the line here. Probably the biggest spot of the match (which I won’t be talking about in the next segment even though it was one of the greater moments of the night but I’m not hurting for great moments to talk about so I can mention it here instead) was the Doomsday Device that Punk and Mox hit on Dax Harwood to a huge reaction from the live crowd and at least one person sitting at home who is also writing this article. FTR nearly stole the match when Cash Wheeler hit Punk with the ring bell behind the Aubrey Edwards’ back and Dax Harwood followed up with a brainbuster, and Punk was again nearly robbed of his victory when Edwards was preoccupied with getting Mox and Harwood out of the ring and missed Wheeler tapping out to the Anaconda Vice. Thankfully, Punk eventually hit the GTS on Tully Blanchard to prevent his further interference, then hit another GTS on Cash Wheeler as Moxley laid out Dax Harwood with the Paradigm Shift to prevent him from getting involved too, and MJF nearly spit out his victory champagne backstage as he realized he wouldn’t be as free to move on to the world title scene as he thought. The crowd was incredibly hot for the entire match – Moxley was greeted with a huge “GCW” chant from the Atlantic City crowd – and especially the finish, and there were plenty of dramatic moments along the way to make the eventual payoff feel even better. Of course, we’ll likely see Punk vs. MJF at Revolution in a few weeks, and assuming Eddie Kingston is good to go by then, it would certainly be fun to see him team up with Moxley to take on FTR at that same show. Even without this larger context, this match was excellent and really worth watching if you somehow missed it. I guess what I’m saying here is, man, the opener was pretty good, but that midcard match really SLAPPED this week.

D’you get it? Because that’s what I said I wanted to be able to say last week. So I said it this week because it’s actually accurate. It’s a funny callback for everyone who reads these articles regularly which, I cannot stress enough, does not include me because I just do not care about my own writing to that degree. Except I somehow remember what I wrote last week so that I could make that reference in the first place. Anyhow, moving on…

Best Moment of the Night

MJF‘s opening celebration segment was great and served up lots of significant storyline moments, between Wardlow being the only member of the Pinnacle not to get his own introduction and MJF slighting him by giving credit to Shawn Spears for hyping him up rather than Wardlow slipping him the Dynamite Diamond as the catalyst for his victory last week. MJF’s complete egocentrism was on full display, and the Atlantic City crowd responded with all the vitriol you’d expect until CM Punk emerged with Darby Allin and Sting to confront them. Again, Punk explicitly appealed to Wardlow, further pushing a wedge between him and the rest of the Pinnacle, and this segment also set up the best match of the night which I’ve already talked about extensively above, so I’m not sure how you’re reading this if you didn’t already read about that. Jay White kicking open the forbidden door to help the Elite take out Roppongi Vice backstage was super cool even if the Switchblade almost certainly isn’t here to stay, but that’s how the “forbidden door” actually works, Tony Khan, so congrats on getting that part right. Adam Cole telling the Young Bucks to trust White as much as they trust him (which of course is actually not all that much) despite the fact that he’s had issues with actual group leader Kenny Omega in the past foreshadows his involvement in the ongoing issues between Cole and the Bucks, and assuming White sticks around long enough for Omega to return, he might serve as a catalyst for the Elite’s ultimate breakup or at least a significant fracture pitting Omega and the Bucks against Cole and reDRagon. This seems like the best-case scenario for any “forbidden door” wrestler who isn’t just there to have a one-off match or short-term feud. Another great moment from this week’s Dynamite was, somewhat surprisingly, the Inner Circle‘s team meeting. Yes, Santana, Ortiz, and even Jericho when he isn’t trading boomer nonsense with Dan Lambert are all good on the mic, but there was a considerable amount of trepidation going into this segment because the idea of a “team meeting” is just the hokiest, least promising way of framing what actually turned out to be a focused, heated promo segment. Santana pointed out that they’ve largely been doing Jericho’s bidding lately, and he vowed to step into the spotlight rather than continuing to stand on the sidelines. Jericho seemingly teased a heel turn, suggesting that the biggest problem with Santana and Ortiz refusing to tag him in against 2point0 was not just the disrespect but the fact that they denied the live crowd the honor of seeing him in action, and he questioned whether Eddie Kingston had the backstage pull to do anything for them. Jericho also pointed out (correctly) that they did in fact have a tag title match against the Young Bucks last year that they lost through no fault of his own, so the idea that he’s held them back from being tag champs isn’t entirely correct. The two sides nearly came to blows when Jericho asked Hager if he had the phone numbers for Homicide and Hernandez, as he questioned whether the wrong members of LAX had been brought in to be part of the Inner Circle, but Sammy Guevara threatening to quit the group again unless they worked their issues out prevented them from fighting it out right then and there, but Ortiz challenged Jericho and Hager to a match next week to settle things for good. Thankfully, this segment did not drag on too long, outlined the basics of the two sides’ issues with one another, and actually had some emotionally resonant moments before concluding with a match setup for next week. The Inner Circle has certainly had its ups and downs since it debuted, and many were…less than confident that we’d get to the point where their breakup would actually matter, but with Guevara set to break out on his own and the potential for Proud & Powerful to re-enter the tag scene in a major way, it does seem like the group may be close to fulfilling its purpose if the company can find a way to stick the landing.

The moment of the night, which should come as no surprise to anyone who’s been paying attention, was the debut of Keith Lee against Isiah Kassidy in a Face of the Revolution qualifying match. Do I really need to explain any more? I mean, I could have stopped that sentence after “debut of Keith Lee” and I feel like it would have been sufficient. Lee showed off his strength and athleticism, leapfrogging Kassidy and pouncing him clear out of the ring in a short but perfectly effective match, which of course he won, and he punctuated that victory by taking out both members of Private Party, who were conspicuously abandoned by Matt Hardy in what may or may not be a significant development going forward. But like, of course it was a good, fairly one-sided match. Of course Keith Lee being in AEW is a hugely exciting development. Why am I still writing this? I could literally stop at any–

Worst Matches/Moments of the Night

KEITH LEE IS ALL ELITE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY KILLEM! NO NEGATIVITY PLEASE!

Parting Shots

• I love a good cheap plug, so Shawn Spears’ self-conscious commercial for MJF’s new “Better Than the Best in the World” shirt was one of my favorite bits in a show loaded with good moments.
• Having two members of heel factions in Wardlow and the Blade face off seemed like an odd choice, but both are so unimportant within their own group that there’s no chance of it spawning an ongoing feud. That’s, uh, actually kind of sad. Granted, Wardlow’s low position in the Pinnacle’s hierarchy is part of an actual storyline while the AHFO neglecting the Blade (and I guess maybe his partner too, who has been absent lately) appears to be just something that’s happening for the time being, but maybe it’ll turn into something now that Matt Hardy seems to have turned his back on Private Party also.
• Jade Cargill facing A.Q.A in her debut match was a cool idea in theory, and it certainly wasn’t terrible in practice, but putting two inexperienced wrestlers in the ring together certainly doesn’t do much for the company’s shiny new TBS Championship. It’s fine occasionally because the TBS title is intended to be the belt for more exciting young up-and-comers, but having a champion who is fairly green herself coupled with a title that is not as well established, it might be better to focus on having more experienced performers as challengers to build up the reputation of both champ and championship.
• Penta’s segment in the graveyard was also super cool even if we don’t yet know exactly what it means for his ongoing feud with the House of Black. This week really did have a lot of highlights, now that I put them all out there in writing.

So that’s it for another week! I had a blast with this week’s episode, and of course the debut of Keith Lee was the biggest highlight in my opinion. As we get closer to next month’s Revolution pay-per-view, AEW certainly seems to be picking up between the matches and storylines, so it’s an exciting time to be a fan. Thanks again for joining me this week, and I hope to see you all back here next week for more Chair Shots!