Chair Shots With Killem Faulkner: AEW Dynamite Sept. 8th

So, uh…how was your Labor Day weekend? Anything…interesting happen? Catch anything good on TV maybe? Nah, no reason in particular, just making conversation and OH YEAH ALL OUT SURE WAS KINDA GOOD, HUH?! Ahem. After a blockbuster pay-per-view that is widely being hailed as an instant classic, this week’s episode of Dynamite had the unenviable task of following up such an epic show that almost definitely drew plenty more eyes to the product. Did this week’s episode deliver the goods to keep the company’s momentum going strong? Will lapsed fans drawn back in by the massive debuts be driven away again by a lackluster follow up? What will be the major talking points as AEW begins its build to November’s Full Gear?

Best Match of the Night

With so many performers going, well, all out at the pay-per-view, it is probably unsurprising that this episode was relatively light on in-ring highlights – many of the performers in the biggest matches at All Out were relegated to talking segments, which led to many of the featured performers this week being drawn from the ranks of those who didn’t have a major storyline previously. That doesn’t mean that the show was entirely lacking from an in-ring perspective, but many of the matches seemed to have been consciously truncated to make space for the bigger talking segments. The main event between Jon Moxley and Minoru Suzuki, for instance, was a quality match between two of the hardest hitters in wrestling, but it felt significantly cut down from what they’re capable of delivering. Maybe they just didn’t have enough time – it felt like the match started awfully late in the show – or maybe they had to call an audible due to Suzuki’s eye injury, but for whatever reason the match never felt like it got out of second gear and ended right when things were starting to pick up. Moxley spent a lot of time post-match celebrating with the Cincinnati faithful, which may have always been the plan since the episode was billed as his big homecoming, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he had to stretch for time since the ending didn’t go exactly as planned. It was still a good match, but it didn’t feel like it fully lived up to its billing. Malakai Black vs. Dustin Rhodes was weirdly sort of too long and too short at the same time – after Black demolished Rhodes’ younger brother Cody at Homecoming last month, it felt odd that Dustin got in so much offense without it seeming like Black was toying with him somehow. However, if AEW wanted to give the impression that Dustin was uniquely fired up to avenge his brother, the match arguably could have used a few more big spots to sell the idea that Black could actually be on the ropes before ultimately catching the Natural with his spinning heel kick that apparently doesn’t have a name at this point. (I get that they maybe don’t want to call it the Black Mass and cool names like Fade to Black may already be taken, but it just feels wrong for such a cool, impactful move to have such a plain name.) That gripe aside, the opener did deliver another satisfying entry in Malakai Black’s ongoing quest to demolish the Nightmare Family ahead of his rematch with Cody at Grand Slam in two weeks, and Black doggedly working over Rhodes’ knee while the man formerly known as Goldust pulled out the sort of offense usually reserved for performers half his age – that Canadian destroyer, anyone? – made for a satisfying enough opener.

My pick for best match this week probably had more to do with the storyline than the actual in-ring action, which was fine but similarly suffered from feeling like it was crunched for time. The Dark Order vs. the Pinnacle started off with a scenario in which both teams needed a win – FTR dropped their rematch with Proud & Powerful last week, while the issues plaguing the Dark Order should be obvious to anyone who’s tuned in to AEW programming recently. Evil Uno, Stu Grayson, and John Silver did hold together relatively well for a good bit of this match, which gave all the Dark Order fans including this writer a brief glimmer of hope that things might be all right among the core members of the group, even as the rest of the Order threatens to unravel. FTR was solid as usual, and Shawn Spears picking up the win to set up a match with Darby Allin next week was an unexpected but well deserved moment for one of the unsung stars of the midcard. Sure, there weren’t any massive highlights or crazy spots that will live long in the memory, and there wasn’t a huge post-match development in the Dark Order storyline, other than perhaps the suggestion that Anna Jay’s return has not made a difference in bringing the group back together. Still, the frustrations boiling over after the match promise further developments to come, and the physicality of the post-match confrontation certainly amps up the tensions as Adam Page’s absence drags painfully on. Everybody involved in this match turned in a solid performance that raised its overall quality above the average TV match and just gets it over the top as this week’s best in-ring offering.

Best Moment of the Night

Given how much time on the show was devoted to three major in-ring promo segments, it is not surprising that there were more significant moments than masterpieces of the grappling arts this week. CM Punk stealing Taz’s line of “beat me if you can, survive if I let you” was a pretty cool moment even if the rivalry between Punk and Team Taz seemingly isn’t the most inspiring direction for the Voice of the Voiceless after his stellar in-ring debut. MJF‘s incendiary, offensive rant about Cincinnati, the midwest in general, and the Pillman family further proved why he’s never really going to become a cool heel that the smarks in the crowd will cheer just for the sake of nonconformity. It fit his character perfectly and immediately got the crowd behind Brian Pillman Jr. going forward, and his slight to Wardlow further teases that his closest ally will likely turn on him by the time the Varsity Blonds get their fill of the pair. Orange Cassidy literally saying “whatever” to the idea of Matt Hardy wanting to cut his hair was a brilliant little moment because…well yeah, why does Big Money Matt want to cut Cassidy’s hair exactly? It’s just the kind of response you’d expect from the King of Sloth Style, and I’ll admit I actually laughed out loud.

At the risk of stating the obvious, the best moment of the night had to be the showdown between Kenny Omega and Bryan Danielson. Adam Cole’s line “the Elite is complete” is definitely going to end up on a shirt in the very near future, and the Young Bucks’ outfits could not be any more obnoxious – Nick Jackson is lucky none of the babyfaces who oppose them ever thought to bring a powerful magnet to the ring. Standing head and shoulders above the rest in terms of heelishness, however, was the utterly self-obsessed AEW World Champion. Coming immediately on the heels of being named #1 in the PWI 500, Omega was basking in his own glory following his successful title defense against Christian Cage before the arrival of the Yes Man. Side note – could Danielson have been any more rude interrupting Omega after he specifically said how much he hates being interrupted? Who’s the real heel in this scenario, hmm? Anyway, Danielson stating that the Belt Collector is not on his level was the definition of “fighting words” and not surprisingly the two came to blows, drawing the rest of the Elite and a group of babyfaces who are united primarily in their desire to take Omega’s group all the way down. AEW was smart to keep their confrontation brief for now – we’ve certainly not seen the end of these two in the ring together, so building up anticipation for their next faceoff is the best way to go this early on in Danielson’s run in the company. Still, this was an incredible moment that will certainly outlive anything else from this week’s Dynamite.

Worst Match/Moment of the Night

I might just have to get rid of this part of the review because I never find anything that bad from week to week. Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Dante Martin was fairly meh for two guys who have had some momentum lately – maybe their styles just don’t mesh that well or the commercial break took up too much of the match, but it just felt kind of lackluster. Brian Cage still hounding Ricky Starks for a one-on-one rematch is just kind of sad at this point – is there nothing better for him to do, considering he obviously wanted out of Team Taz anyway? I guess I’ll give the worst moment of the week to Tully Blanchard‘s confusing backstage promo setting up Shawn Spears vs. Darby Allin next week, where even Blanchard himself didn’t seem to know how his points about leadership and Sting and the Pinnacle’s win over the Dark Order really fit together, but I don’t really feel good about it. Especially since it’s going to lead to Darby Allin vs. Shawn Spears next week, a matchup that I really want to see. Let’s just move on already and try not to think about it too much, which is what AEW clearly wants us to do after Blanchard’s promo. (Heh, nailed it.)

Parting Shots

• As mentioned in the intro, All Out was some kind of awesome. I think recency bias is somewhat to blame for some of the hyperbole surrounding the event, with “best pay-per-view of all time” or “best AEW show EVER” being thrown around a bit much, but it was definitely a benchmark against which all future AEW PPVs will be measured. I’m not going to do a full review, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention what I’m sure we all agree was the best moment from All Out. No, not that one. Nah, not that one either. Just…just stop guessing. You’re bad at this. I am, of course, talking about the return of the one, the only, THE BUTCHER. Yes, that’s right, the Butcher is healthy and back in action. GET HYPED.
• Far be it for me to ever criticize announcers mis-calling wrestling moves – if I tried to call a match live, I’m sure some moron in the comments going “ITS A SIATO SUPLEX NOT A TBONE YOUR SUCK A MORON” with all the grammatical grace that the internet has come to be known for would be enough for me to rethink my life choices immediately. However, I did notice twice this week that JR and Tony Schiavone were a little…off: the final move in the Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Dante Martin match sure looked like a spinebuster rather than the powerbomb, and I’m not sure what they are allowed to call that submission Bryan Danielson tried to trap Kenny Omega in, but I don’t think it was just an armbar. Since I’m not here to criticize two incredibly professional veteran announcers, I will point out that later in the show, JR absolutely nailed a call: when Jon Moxley bit Minoru Suzuki, only for Suzuki to turn it around and bite Moxley right back, good ol’ JR termed the spot “reciprocal biting” in a moment of pure inspiration. Well done, sir.
• Call me crazy, but Dan Lambert didn’t actually have “change the channel” heat with me this week. Maybe it’s because he seemed like less of an awful walking boomer catchphrase machine and more like a parody of one specific out-of-touch old man with his complaints about how all the fans’ favorite stars are under 6 feet tall. Plus I’ve got to admit his line about fans looking up the lyrics to “one of the worst songs in the history of the world” (meaning while not naming, of course, Chris Jericho’s “Judas”) had me making this exact face. I suppose he might not be so unbearable as long as he’s managing two actual wrestlers and not pointlessly crowbarring MMA guys into a show that doesn’t need them.
• Brandon Cutler being the first person in AEW to take the Knee Plus or whatever we’re going to call it now was a really nice moment. Cutler trying to crawl his way through a ring full of babyfaces was genuinely hilarious, and he sold the move from Danielson like an absolute champ. I continue to say Cutler is the real unsung hero of the Elite.

So that’s it for another week of Dynamite! As I mentioned above, it’s always tough to follow up a great show like All Out, and this week’s episode wasn’t anything exceptional overall, but it certainly won’t kill the company’s momentum dead. What was your favorite moment from Dynamite this week? Was your favorite moment from All Out the return of the Butcher on the Buy-In show, or are you wrong and in denial? Let us know what you thought about all things AEW this week, give us a follow on Twitter @FilmIronic, and be sure to come back for more from the world of entertainment!