Chair Shots With Killem Faulkner: Neck Health Dynamite

This week’s episode of Dynamite took place in Jon Moxley’s hometown of Cincinnati, OH and looked to tie a bow on the build to next week’s Grand Slam special. In addition to Moxley defending his newly-won International Championship because duh, we were also promised #1 contender’s matches for the men’s and women’s world titles, a face-to-face segment between two longtime friends turned opponents, and a few other assorted matches and segments ahead of the company’s annual Arthur Ashe show. Was AEW successful in making next week’s special episode seem more significant?

Best Match of the Night

Overall, the in-ring portion of this week’s show was solid – it won’t hold up as one of the best nights of wrestling in company history, but every match on the card arguably delivered beyond expectations. Arguably the most pleasantly surprising was the women’s #1 contender’s match between Hikaru Shida, Dr. Britt Baker DMD, Toni Storm, and Nyla Rose. No, I don’t know why Nyla was included in this match either (with all due respect to the former champ) and no, a surprise rollup finish isn’t ideal, but at least this ending served to further two rivalries in the women’s division – Shida and Baker bickering led to Storm taking advantage for the win, and her victory puts her on a collision course with (seemingly former) Outcasts ally Saraya. I’m a little disappointed we never really got to see a unified babyface alliance (including Willow Nightengale, Skye Blue, and probably Britt Baker) opposing the full-strength Outcasts faction – though I suppose AEW could always sign another former WWE star to fill out the trio – but Storm’s new character pivot is too good to relegate her to second fiddle in this faction any longer. I somewhat suspect the former Anti-Diva will find a way to win since she’s only just won the title, even though her reign is probably not long for this world, and it would be pretty funny to watch Storm further lose touch with reality after failing to regain the title. AEW generally does multi-person matches well, so I guess it shouldn’t be that surprising that this match was good, especially given the talent involved, but considering how short televised women’s matches usually are and the relative lack of storyline development between the four competitors, this match managed to overcome its seeming limitations to deliver a solid outing.

The men’s #1 contender’s match between Roderick Strong and Samoa Joe was similarly good to its female counterpart, though I suspect more people would have expected it to be a highlight given its position in the main event and the more significant story development beforehand. Joe wants to face MJF just to prove he can still do whatever he wants against an opponent he’s always considered beneath him, while Roddy wants to prove to Adam Cole that his neck health deserves more loyalty than the scarf-wearing Devil. Strong was almost certainly not going to win unless The Kingdom got involved somehow, and possibly not even then, but the match was definitely competitive even though the result was never really in doubt. Although Roddy is positioned as more of a comedic character in this storyline, he can still go in the ring, and Joe has always been a great dance partner for smaller opponents, so this match had a formula that works as its foundation. The post-match developments with Strong faking a neck injury to draw Adam Cole out to ringside where he fell victim to a returning Samoa Joe sneak attack were also executed well and raise some intriguing questions – was Roddy trying to lure his supposed friend into a pre-arranged attack? Will Matt Taven and Michael Bennett play some role in helping Joe take down MJF? Are Taven and Bennett using Strong to get themselves a tag title shot against MJF and Cole? I suspect we will begin to get answers to those questions next week, but considering almost everyone expected the MJF/Adam Cole storyline to end at All In, this has been a successful way of continuing the storyline while shifting it into a slightly different direction. MJF vs. Samoa Joe may not be the most heated rivalry heading into Grand Slam – MJF basically just made fat jokes and gave Joe an obvious opening to plug Twisted Metal (though it was admittedly hilarious) but they never really established a personal hatred – but the physical matchup between the cocky yet cowardly champ and the no-nonsense monster challenger goes a long way toward building hype. Joe has been built well as a serious threat to the champ, and this match was an effective culmination of that build.

The best match of the night was a complete surprise to me. Brian Cage vs. Hangman Adam Page was certainly billed as something significant, with the company slapping a “III” on it as if it were some long-awaited sequel rather than a random TV match that mainly served as an appetizer to a more exciting feud between Page and Swerve Strickland. Whatever your personal level of excitement coming into this match, though, what they actually delivered in the ring was way beyond what anyone could have reasonably expected. Cage has always been underrated mainly because he’s not the best talker but his power and agility are impressive enough that it hardly matters. There’s a good reason he’s usually paired with a manager or partner of some kind to make up for his mic shortcomings. Page is still one of the most popular wrestlers in the company, especially after he donated his battle royal winnings to Chicago’s public education fund last week, calling teachers “underfunded, underpaid, and underappreciated” which makes him the best babyface around in my opinion as a former teacher myself. Putting the two of them together made for an exciting matchup that got the crowd chanting “this is awesome” by the halfway point. Swerve made his presence felt, allowing Cage to deliver an astounding German suplex from the apron to the ring, and there were a few points where it looked like Cage might pull off the win with the Mogul Embassy’s leader in his corner. He never quite put the Anxious Millennial Cowboy away, however, and Page was ultimately able to pick up the win after hitting Deadeye. Cage wasn’t made to look too weak in defeat, as Swerve’s post-match verbal sparring with Hangman allowed the Machine to get in a sneak attack from behind, though he was ultimately taken out by a double superkick from the Young Bucks. Page and Strickland won’t face off until WrestleDream rather than being paid off next week at Grand Slam, so there is plenty of time to continue building up the rivalry, but so far it has been very impressive for a midcard feud, and if Swerve can bring the best out of Hangman the way Cage did this week, it should make for a great match with show-stealing potential.

Best Moment of the Night

This week’s show was also pretty good from a promo perspective also. Don Callis and Konosuke Takeshita are seemingly finished with Chris Jericho but not Kenny Omega, as Callis unveiled his latest “masterpiece” which depicted himself directing Takeshita to drive a sword into a kneeling Kota Ibushi. They also revealed that Takeshita’s new nickname is “the Alpha” after beating the Cleaner twice in a week, as not only an upgrade of the traditional “Ace” nickname in Japan but also as a clear reference to the opposite of Omega. This segment didn’t overstay its welcome, but its imagery and content were effective at driving home the threat Takeshita is to Omega and everyone he cares about. To punctuate his point, Callis stabbed a screwdriver into the face of Ibushi in the painting and Takeshita forced a bunch of flowers into Tony Schiavone’s hands, implying that it will be Ibushi’s funeral when they next cross paths.

I know this will be a lot of people’s moment of the night, but I’m giving the runner-up spot to Maxwell Jacob Friedman for his version of the “Steiner Math” promo on Samoa Joe. (Yes, the original target of Scott Steiner’s iconic promo was Samoa Joe, so it made sense to bust it out here.) I will say MJF’s promos in this rivalry haven’t been his strongest, which is still pretty good comparatively, and as funny as it was for him to channel the Big Bad Booty Daddy in laying out Joe’s chances of beating him next week, it wasn’t exactly a sick burn to reuse someone else’s lines with just a few significant alterations. Still, Max delivered his lines flawlessly and got in a few jabs at Roderick Strong to put over the idea that we all didn’t know who was going to win their #1 contender’s match. Not one of MJF’s best promos ever, but it was certainly a memorable moment nonetheless.

I didn’t have high expectations for the promo segment between Sammy Guevara and Chris Jericho, but it actually delivered as a worked shoot with a style and tone that felt utterly unique. Rather than being super strict about maintaining kayfabe and staying on-script, it felt more like two buddies shooting the breeze in front of a live audience and camera crew. The segment started off with a video package recapping their friendship and a few jokes about Sammy singing along to Jericho’s entrance theme, which seemed genuine and lighthearted even though Jericho might end up being irked by the fact that even after four years, one of his closest friends couldn’t be bothered to learn the words (or proper pitch) to a song Jericho himself made famous. Jericho talked about discovering Sammy on an NWA show in 2018 and talking Tony Khan into signing him, wanting to take the burgeoning star under his wing to make sure he reached his potential. Now Sammy is all grown up and about to have a baby (well, his wife Tay Melo is anyway) and Jericho couldn’t be prouder. Sammy showed appreciation for Le Champion’s role in the foundation of AEW and expressed his desire to be talked about in the same way as the top stars in the company, including Jericho himself. The promo took on a more competitive tone with Guevara stating that he needs to beat Y2J next week to prove himself and Jericho replying that he’s going to give his friend everything he can handle and more, claiming that Sammy is not ready to defeat him. The segment ended with an intense staredown as you might expect, but Sammy left it on a relatively light note by saying after he beats Jericho, they’ll shake hands and then go after the tag titles together. I never feel like a promo segment like this needs to suddenly turn into a pull-apart brawl unless the feud justifies it, which it really does not in this case, so I appreciated that the segment was allowed to play out in a somewhat unconventional manner. Jericho and Guevara played their roles well, but like I said they didn’t go too overboard in trying to ham it up or play a character. Their whole demeanor here seemed fairly casual and natural, which suited the friendly rivalry they’ve established quite well. Whether they are intentionally underselling to set us up for a swerve next week or if like Adam Cole and MJF, they’re genuinely remaining friendly despite going head-to-head, I thought this segment really knocked it out of the park in terms of setting the table for a significant match next week.

Worst Matches/Moments of the Night

Nothing really stood out on the negative side this week – everything was pretty good or better.

Parting Shots

• I didn’t end up watching All Out – surprisingly I just wasn’t up to paying $50 for an undercooked show after a week in which one of my favorite wrestlers died and another got himself fired after another $50 pay-per-view that was way more hyped. I am glad to hear that the show ended up being quite good; I just wasn’t in the right headspace for it and certainly didn’t mind the extra change in my pocket from not paying to see it. The pay-per-view model only works if they are relatively rare – WWE was smart to shift to the “premium live event” concept because monthly shows that your audience has to pay for is a lot to ask of your audience. Can we please wait a while before the next paid show, Tony Khan? …No? WrestleDream is less than a month away already? Cool cool cool.
• Speaking of one of my favorite wrestlers getting fired, CM Punk was fired for cause since the last time I wrote one of these reviews, so I may as well talk about it a little here. Now, as I made clear in my last review, I am mostly disappointed in Punk rather than AEW itself for the firing. Sure, Tony Khan could have put his foot down more to prevent a second incident after last year’s Brawl Out, but ultimately I feel like Punk’s inability to be the bigger person and just let the petty stuff go was the main contributor to his ultimate downfall. It feels like such a waste for a run that easily could have lasted several more years to end so soon – I feel like all of these rivalries and many more will sadly end up being mere “what if” footnotes to his time in AEW rather than a reality.
• I love the cognitive dissonance of Jon Moxley being a babyface in his hometown while still being a dastardly villain everywhere else. He was clearly intended to be the good guy in his match against Big Bill, but as soon as Rey Fenix confronted him backstage vowing to take his International title next week, I couldn’t help but remember the attempted murder perpetrated by Mox and Wheeler Yuta that kept Fenix out of All In. Also, while I’m at it, I should mention that although I wasn’t opposed to Orange Cassidy losing his title – the whole storyline of him getting increasingly beaten up trying to scratch and claw his way to retaining the title each week was obviously going to have a limited shelf-life – I’m not a huge fan of Mox as the one to do it. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy Moxley’s work and it makes a ton of sense having him in a workhorse role where he wrestles almost every week, but he has a healthy degree of contempt for even the world title, much less a secondary belt that he has no reason to want. Mox’s whole deal is he likes inflicting brutal violence upon others and isn’t shy about taking punishment himself to do so. No part of that requires him to carry gold around his waist.
• We really broke up the Jericho Appreciation Society just for Matt Menard, Angelo Parker, Jake Hager, and Anna Jay to continue hanging out together? While Sammy and Jericho continue working together too? What was the point?

That’s it for another week – really good show, in my opinion, with lots of interesting developments ahead of Grand Slam and WrestleDream. Thanks for joining me once again, and I hope to see you all back here next week for more Chair Shots!