Chair Shots With Killem Faulkner: Final Battle Go-Home Dynamite

Hey everyone, your intrepid author Killem Faulkner here, back after two weeks off due to Thanksgiving and illness, ready to jump back in with another Dynamite review. Meaning that I will be reviewing AEW’s weekly show on TBS named Dynamite, not that the review itself will be dynamite. Hey, I’m all about honesty in advertising here. This week continued to build a number of rivalries that will be featured at the next Ring of Honor pay-per-view, Final Battle, while also paying lip service to some of the ongoing AEW drama. A tag team match was scheduled between two factions whose long-running rivalry will apparently come to an end at Final Battle, a dual RoH/AEW champ put one title on the line ahead of defending the other at the pay-per-view, and one of the top tag teams of the year sought to add to its already impressive haul of championships before learning its next challengers for the RoH belts. Let’s look at all the best and worst of this week’s show.

Best Match of the Night

I’ll be honest, I felt like this was a pretty average week wrestling-wise. Man, I should have just taken another week off. Turns out you’ve got infinite paid time off when you’re not getting paid. Anyway, it makes sense that this show was a little lackluster considering Ring of Honor hasn’t been featured all that much lately but AEW had to take some time to showcase the company’s stars ahead of Final Battle. As is often the case ahead of a pay-per-view, the company couldn’t afford to go all out and risk overshadowing the show they were trying to sell the audience on or having anyone pick up an injury ahead of the premium event. That’s not to say there were no good matches – in fact, at least one was actually pretty great, and an “average” week for AEW is still pretty good – but in general they were decent matches in service of a story rather than outright wrestling showcases. Regardless, let’s look at the best of the meh. First up is Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta vs. Daniel Garcia & Jake Hager, a decent tag match that served mainly to make Claudio look good ahead of his Ring of Honor World Championship match against Chris Jericho at Final Battle. Oh, and to remind people that Castagnoli and Hager used to be a tag team, apparently. And that Hager likes his purple hat, I guess. Claudio tried to kick that silly hat into the crowd but it turns out a purple bucket hat isn’t all that heavy or aerodynamic so it disappointingly fell short of the ringside barricade, drawing some disapproval from the live crowd. It would have been great if he had given us the classic “Cesaro shrug” after a kick unworthy of the World Cup but he didn’t, so double bummer. Wheeler Yuta and Daniel Garcia each had a few moments to shine, but it was mainly the Swiss Superman show and ended with a regular European uppercut. Yup, not a Neutralizer, not a super European uppercut where he throws his opponent up in the air first, just a standard European uppercut. Now, I’m all for wrestlers using non-standard finishing moves from time to time to make more of their signature offense feel like a genuine match-ending threat, but this just felt like a rushed, confusing conclusion to an otherwise decent match. The “decent” part puts it on the best matches list, but the conclusion part puts it in the spot of second runner-up.

The first runner-up this week had a more satisfying finish but was so one-sided that it wouldn’t have been nearly as enjoyable if it wasn’t Samoa Joe vs. Darby Allin. Joe as dual champion doesn’t do much for me or arguably for either of the titles he holds, but at least he has an excuse to face guys like Darby here for the TNT Championship and Juice Robinson on Saturday for the RoH TV Title. Allin is an ideal opponent for Joe, whose schtick of walking away unimpressed as his high-flying opponent crashes and burns never gets old, and Darby’s willingness to throw himself (or be thrown) all around the ring and ringside area gave Joe plenty of opportunities to look like a world-beater by simply shrugging off his opponent’s signature offense and locking in his own. Joe also amped up the brutality, slamming Darby into the barricade on the outside, then pulling up the ringside mat and delivering a slam directly onto the exposed concrete. Darby made a comeback in the ring, hitting a flipping stunner and a Code Red, but Joe ultimately caught him in the Coquina Clutch as he tried to deliver his signature Coffin Drop, and Allin finally passed out in the hold to cement a successful title defense for the TNT champ. As I mentioned, this match worked to the strengths of both men so it was no surprise whatsoever that it worked out as well as it did, and the result makes perfect sense for the dual champion who is trying to build credibility both for himself and the titles he carries. This was also one of the few matches on the show that felt like it went nearly full bore – Allin almost never looks like he’s holding anything back, and Joe brought the intensity to match his opponent even though the match itself didn’t go super long, which is probably for the best since he’s got to wrestle again on Saturday.

As you might have imagined, FTR vs. The Acclaimed gets match of the night honors. Duh. Two of the best, most insanely over tag teams in the world right now finally having a title match was always going to be good if they got any amount of time to work, which they did. They started off slow, emphasizing how equally matched the two teams are as both tried to take any advantage they could, before kicking it into high gear following the commercial break. The latter half of the match seemingly revolved around each team trying to win by rollup or trying to hit the Big Rig, which FTR were ultimately successful at though Bowens broke up the pinfall from out of nowhere. Ultimately, it was Max Caster who took advantage of Cash Wheeler with an inside roll counter for the win, which was maybe not the best finish but it was supposed to be a surprise result in which Wheeler took his eye off the prize for just a moment and cost his team the match, and I can’t imagine this is the last time we’ll see these two teams face off. The champs look resourceful in victory, the challengers will likely demand a rematch to hopefully give us a more conclusive finish, and the crowd went home happy after an enthralling main event. If you missed this week’s show, I would absolutely recommend going out of your way to seek this one out. I’ve intentionally avoided summarizing too much of this match because it wasn’t really a spot-fest but rather a showcase of good ol’ professional wrestling, so reading a blow-by-blow recap of everything that happened doesn’t really do it justice. This match ruled, the Austin crowd was red hot for both teams, and I can’t even think of a third thing that needs to be said here because you just need to watch this match already if you haven’t.

Best Moment of the Night

It’s no secret that the House of Black felt a bit misused in its first incarnation, but since they’ve returned from a fairly brief hiatus, it has felt like AEW has fully reset the group back to its original potential. Their promo this week was an excellent reminder of what Malakai Black brings to the table as the leader of this group, and the aura of all four members standing side-by-side is pretty much unmatched by any other group or faction in the company. This was a fairly short promo, giving each member a short speaking opportunity, but the promises of war and annihilation that they will bring to the rest of the roster felt ominous and foreboding in the best way possible. They didn’t call anyone out specifically, so it’s not entirely clear who their first feud back will be against, but it feels like Black, King, and Matthews are unafraid to take on the entire roster if need be to clear away the “corruption” they claim to see.

On any ordinary week, the verbal battle between MJF and Ricky Starks would have gotten moment of the night – this was two masters of the microphone going in hard on each other, trading barbs ahead of their title showdown and, by virtue of Starks’ win in the opening battle royal, an inevitable clash for the Dynamite Diamond ring. Max took aim at Ricky’s similarities to the Rock, calling him “a dollar-store Dwayne” and nicknaming him “the Pebble” (which I’m pretty sure the Rock used himself at one point, right? Like he referred to his childhood as “back when the Rock was just the Pebble”? Am I Mandela Effecting myself right now?) while Ricky struck back by nicknaming him “Maxi Pad” and referring to him as “a fifth-rate Roddy Piper.” We’ve always known that MJF is a great promo, but Ricky hasn’t had the chance to shine like this so far in his career, so even though he’s inevitably going to lose in his first title match, this was a great showcase of what makes him a special talent. A lot of wrestlers who find themselves across the ring from the current AEW World Champion get run over verbally, even if they manage to land a shot or two along the way, but the Absolute one more than held his own here. If there was any doubt as to who had the better verbal performance here, the segment ended with MJF going for a low blow rather than responding to his challenger’s fiery promo, though Ricky got the upper hand in the end with a spear that sent the champ into a hasty retreat. I mentioned that the main event was the only match I would go out of my way to watch if I had missed it the first time around, but this promo segment is absolutely worth seeking out as well. So why isn’t it best moment of the night? Well…

It is basically confirmed at this point that William Regal is leaving AEW to return to WWE, though reportedly in a non-televised role for at least a year, so any appearance he makes on AEW television automatically feels more emotional and poignant than it might have otherwise, so what could have been his final appearance in the company was always going to be the best segment of the night. In a pre-recorded interview with Tony Schiavone, the Blackpool villain essentially said goodbye to the Blackpool Combat Club, explaining that he turned on Jon Moxley at Full Gear to prove the importance of having eyes in the back of your head as one final lesson to the team. He admitted that the only way the team would see this video if something bad happened to him, which was likely because he’s spent his entire career making enemies, making this promo a sort of video will in which a man who foresaw his own death left his heirs one final lesson before his inevitable demise. Regal was fantastic as always, and the segment basically should have ended right there with the BCC unable to formulate a coherent response – Jon Moxley’s brief promo after the video played had basically nothing to do with what came before, though it did allow the group to feel unified as they left the ring together. (Moxley’s promo earlier in the evening in which he said he was proud of Hangman Page for dusting himself off after falling off his horse and using his fists to do the talking was way better than whatever he offered up here – consider that promo an unofficial honorable mention.) I completely understand Regal leaving to work under Triple H’s leadership and spend more time with his son, and this felt like a fitting sendoff for him if indeed he is finished as an on-screen personality in AEW. It’s a bummer that he won’t be around to be part of this story anymore, but I’m sure Bryan Danielson will come firing back to carry the flag for his fallen mentor with such fury that it won’t matter that much if Regal is written off the show.

Worst Matches/Moments of the Night

I understand that Mark and Jay Briscoe are forbidden from appearing on AEW television, but it was truly bizarre to have FTR vs. the Briscoe Brothers III announced by…the Gunn Club? I guess they have had a sort of feud with FTR, in the sense that the Booty Boys have been trying to antagonize Wheeler and Dawson while FTR have almost completely ignored them, but having the dual dog collar challenge delivered by two fairly irrelevant wrestlers who don’t regularly appear on TV was an odd choice to close the show. Obviously the announcement of another Briscoes vs. FTR match will be well received by the fanbase, so it probably doesn’t matter in the end. It still felt like a fairly flat ending after an excellent tag match to close the show on a high note, and although the match will sell plenty of pay-per-view buys without any official buildup, it’s a shame we can’t get more of an official rivalry going with a proper build between the two teams. At any rate, the Butt Brothers are a fairly weak intermediary – I can’t imagine the Briscoes (in kayfabe) contacting them specifically to make a challenge on their behalf.

Parting Shots

• It was good to see Jamie Hayter get a sit-down interview segment for the first time since winning the women’s title – it was too short to be considered for moment of the night, but it was still a good opportunity to let the new champ express some personality outside of the ring. As Hayter herself pointed out, it seems like only certain women in the division are afforded the opportunity to cut a promo or give an interview, but she’s obviously earned some more screen time even when she isn’t wrestling.
• I don’t feel like Madison Rayne needs to be a regular on-screen wrestler at this point in her career, but it is good to see that she’s rubbing off on younger talents like Skye Blue and Kiera Hogan. Jade Cargill was her usual dominant self in the end and Rayne ate the pin, which is the right call, and it bears watching to see if there’s tension between Jade and Red Velvet, who seemed unwilling to join in the post-match celebration with her team. Considering Hogan was just unceremoniously expelled from the group, it would seem like AEW might be setting up the TBS Champion to go it alone more than she ever has in her career so far. Maybe that will benefit her long-term by establishing that she can win without backup, or maybe the company has someone in mind to dethrone her as she runs out of allies to back her up.
• I love how laissez-faire Orange Cassidy is about his title defenses – Tony Schiavone is basically like “OC, you’re going to be defending your All-Atlantic Championship on Friday against X” and Cassidy is just like “Yeah, fine, sounds good, whatever.” I would like to see him defend the title against more non-Americans – he won the title off PAC and defended it against Rush, Rey Fenix, and Katsuyori Shibata early in his run with the belt, but lately it’s been a string of Americans (Lee Johnson, Jake Hager, and QT Marshall) which is odd for such an international-focused title. Hopefully Kip Sabian has someone interesting for him to face on Friday’s Rampage.

That’s it for another week – as I said, good episode overall, just nothing out of the ordinary for a weekly Dynamite. Just a quick programming note here – I’ll have another regular Dynamite review next week, then I’m going to do a special year in review article the week after before taking a few weeks off and returning in the new year. I’ve got some video games stuff in the works too, so keep an eye out for that if you’re interested in that kind of thing. Thanks for joining me once again, and I hope to see you all back here next week for more Chair Shots!