Chair Shots With Killem Faulkner: Thanksgiving Eve AEW Dynamite

Thanksgiving may be all about the food, but on Wednesday night AEW prepared a wrestling feast for its fans as a special holiday-themed episode of Dynamite emanated from the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, IL. Not one but two big Chicago-based stars had matches scheduled, the TBS Championship tournament rolled on with a big quarterfinal match, and a massive 8-man tag was set to headline the show. The biggest question of the night was how AEW fans would be feeling after the show: thankful for a great appetizer for the holiday festivities, or like turkeys for bothering to tune in.

Best Match of the Night

There may not have been any all-time classics on the card this week, but the company managed to avoid the lazy gimmick bouts that can overshadow a holiday-themed show like this, and there were several standout matches that deserve praise. Bryan Danielson vs. Colt Cabana was an excellent showcase of the American Dragon’s new heel persona, and the Chicago native got in just enough offense for it not to be a complete squash while never really giving the impression that he had a chance to win against the #1 contender for the AEW World Championship. Cabana may be primarily a comedy wrestler, but he has shown in recent televised bouts that he’s capable of adapting to the tone of the situation he’s in, and though he was still firmly in smiley babyface mode, he brought an intensity and focus to this match that befit the style of the match well. After promising to kick in the heads of all the Dark Order members who stood between him and new champion Adam Page, Bryan Danielson took the physicality of the match up another notch, not to mention his antagonistic posture toward the crowd – he reveled in the Chicago fans letting him have it every time he took control, which was often in a largely one-sided match. Remorselessly highlighting the fact that he apparently legit kicked two of Cabana’s teeth out during the match in the post-match interview only further builds the mystique around his ultra-violent turn to the dark side, and the brief confrontation with the new champ Adam Page had the crowd roaring with anticipation for their eventual clash for the title.

The main event 8-man tag was another standout – no surprise from a company that has shown an absolute mastery of the multi-man showcase match. Cody Rhodes and Death Triangle squared off against Malakai Black, Andrade El Idolo, and FTR in a massive match that furthered no fewer than three different feuds (Black vs. Rhodes, Andrade vs. PAC, and FTR vs. the Lucha Brothers) and set up the possibility for others like PAC vs. Black and Arn Anderson vs. Tully Blanchard (okay, not really) that fans should be highly intrigued to see play out in the weeks to come. I would contend that the most exciting hot tag in all of pro wrestling is Rey Fenix, and that should in no way be seen as a slight to the man who is also one of the most electrifying performers on the AEW roster. FTR are phenomenal heels, though of course nothing they do is ever really as exciting as watching them get double-teamed or failing to do something they probably shouldn’t have tried in the first place. (Cash Wheeler doing a flip and then immediately getting kicked in the face because karma and totally whiffing on a 619 were particular highlights from his time in this match.) I could personally do without the “everyone hits a signature move one after another” spot that almost inevitably happens in every match like this, but otherwise I couldn’t find too much to complain about with this main event. (I suppose Malakai Black’s relative lack of involvement prior to the finish might also be a bit of a nitpick as well.) The heels got a somewhat tainted victory as Black sprayed his signature mist in PAC’s face just as he was setting up for the Black Arrow, allowing Andrade to capitalize with a hammerlock DDT for the win, but that was the right choice as both teams just lost at Full Gear and needed to build themselves back up. The faces don’t look terrible in defeat, though their lack of chemistry compared to the heel team was somewhat surprising given that Death Triangle is a legit trio even if Cody Rhodes doesn’t exactly fit them well as a fourth man. I wouldn’t be surprised if Andrade rubs that fact in PAC’s face going forward as he continues his crusade to get the Lucha Bros to forsake their embattled leader. All in all, this was a worthy main event and only just barely missed out on match of the night honors.

The match of the night, for my money, had to be the TBS Championship quarterfinal match between Thunder Rosa and Jamie Hayter. I have consistently been impressed with AEW’s commitment to showcasing the depth of its women’s roster throughout this tournament, and this match may have been the best example of both a quality in-ring contest and the potential for multiple storylines to spin off that will elevate the division going forward. First and foremost, Thunder Rosa is just plain OVER with the crowd, but there were even some competing “Jamie Hayter” chants from the Chicago crowd on this night, which just proves how far she has come as a performer since her return and alliance with Dr. Britt Baker DMD on the debut episode of Rampage. I have predicted as far back as the Dynamite before All Out that Hayter might be in line for a women’s world title shot against her current ally Baker, and the crowd reaction coupled with the finish and post-match developments certainly hinted at that possibility. Her opponent on this night, however, might be the only woman on the roster more likely to get the next shot at Baker’s championship, unless AEW chooses to hold off on reigniting that feud by crowning Thunder Rosa its first TBS Champion, and either option would be well deserved for one of the best wrestlers on the roster. The striking, submissions, and high-impact offense from both women had the live crowd captivated throughout the match, and the finish in which the heels botched an attempt to give Hayter the advantage and ended up costing her the win was not only the right booking decision but also sets up a juicy semifinal matchup between Rosa and Jade Cargill that may very well determine who ends up being the eventual winner of the entire tourney. The remaining matches in the tournament will be hard-pressed to top this one, but somehow I suspect they will find a way to deliver a satisfying conclusion in the final two rounds in the weeks to come.

Best Moment of the Night

Adam Cole and Bobby Fish getting into it with Best Friends over…the concept of friendship, apparently, was a great little moment that should give the former Undisputed Era members something to do while the Young Bucks heal up while continuing to paint Cole as delusional about how close he and the rest of the Elite really are. As an unabashed Cubs fan, it makes me extremely happy to see that the tradition of throwing back potential souvenirs that you don’t want is alive and well in the city of Chicago, as the crowd utterly rejected Cody Rhodes‘ weight belt. Just be more careful not to hit Aubrey Edwards next time, guys. She’s a national treasure and should not be messed with under any circumstances.

Let’s be fair, though: there was always going to be only one real choice for moment of the night. When two gifted mic workers like CM Punk and MJF face off in a verbal throwdown, there really isn’t much that could possibly top it. And, unsurprisingly, nothing on this night did – their 20-minute war of words will likely go down as one of the best promo segments of the year and could well set the stage for one of the best early contenders for feud of the year 2022. There are far too many highlights here to name them all, but some standout lines:

• MJF says he’ll “verbally finish you faster than your UFC career”
• “You can drop cute little pipe bombs all you want, because I’m MJF and I drop nukes”
• Punk says he’s disappointed that MJF had all week to come up with zingers and he couldn’t come up with anything better than “the lowest-hanging fruit”
• Punk calls MJF “a less famous Miz”
• MJF calls him “PG Punk” and says he may as well be preaching “Hustle, Loyalty, and Respect”
• MJF says Punk stayed away for so long making “comics nobody read and movies nobody watched” because he was afraid the fans only supported him when they felt like he was being held down – if he got the opportunities he felt he deserved and couldn’t prove he was still the best, would the crowd turn on him?
• MJF claims Punk was always second best, whether to the “you can’t see me man” or “the king of kings”
• Punk points out he beat Darby Allin without using the Dynamite Diamond ring like MJF had to
• Punk says MJF is obsessed with being the most powerful of the four pillars despite the fact that he’s been replaced by Britt Baker (which drew a huge “DMD” chant)
• Punk claims the only way MJF will be #1 in AEW is if Tony Khan has a daughter someday for MJF to marry

I love how AEW doesn’t shy away from mentioning Punk’s past in WWE – or just referencing things from WWE in general – and this promo segment did a great job of weaving those references into a storyline that feels fresh and weighty. MJF acknowledges he used to be a fan of CM Punk’s (as the photographic evidence that made the rounds on the internet again this past week attests) while claiming he’s gone soft since, and Punk acknowledges he was a bit scared that he’d lost a step but isn’t backing down especially now that he’s gotten some wins under his belt since his return. This feud is exactly what we’ve been asking for – literally, we talked about exactly this kind of thing in our recent podcast episode – and segments like this only further build hype for when they inevitably clash in the ring.

Worst Matches/Moments of the Night

As great as CM Punk‘s promo segment with MJF was, and as much as it pains me to say anything negative about my favorite wrestler, his match with QT Marshall was…not. I’m not saying it was a terrible match, but it absolutely did not fit the kind of story that the opening promo set up. MJF said Punk has struggled in easy matches, and with all due respect to Marshall and the Factory, the challenge in this match was lower than any previous match Punk has had since his return. So why did it extend through the second commercial break? And why was Marshall physically in control for so long? I get that having Punk not wrestle at all in his second appearance in Chicago would have been unthinkable, but longer was not better in this instance. A quick, relatively one-sided bout in which Punk was firmly in command except for some interference by Aaron Solo and Nick Comoroto, eventually culminating in them being ejected and Punk regaining control for a decisive win would have kept this match from overstaying its welcome while still serving its purpose. The announcers speculated that Punk struggled to put Marshall away because MJF got in his head but…that’s worse. You get how that’s worse, right? Like the babyface is supposed to go out there and try to prove the heel wrong, yeah? Like Darby Allin did when MJF said he would break him mentally – he proved MJF couldn’t do that and he was forced to cheat to win instead. So…why didn’t Punk do that? Otherwise, there was nothing else really bad on the night – apart from some audio issues in a pre-taped promo from Britt Baker and the backstage interview with Chris Jericho, I didn’t catch any notable negatives from this week’s broadcast.

Parting Shots

• All the best to the Butcher, who apparently suffered a significant biceps injury in his return match last week. We (by which I mean mostly I) will miss him greatly. Get well soon, sir.
• Dante Martin signing with Team Taz over the objections of Lio Rush was a stunning little moment, and it will be interesting to see where we go from here – from a character standpoint, this seems like an odd move for Martin, whose alliance with Rush had only just begun. Maybe he’s some form of double agent trying to bring down Team Taz from the inside.
• Britt Baker saying Tony Schiavone is uninvited from Christmas since he’s ruined Halloween and Thanksgiving (or Friendsgiving, as it were) now and refusing to do the “DMD” hand gesture was hilarious – her match against Riho on Friday should be a banger and is technically appropriate, as Schiavone pointed out Riho had not actually been eliminated from the Casino Battle Royal at All Out. This idea of Tony Schiavone inadvertently ruining things for Baker should absolutely continue in the future.

That’ll do it for another week of AEW Dynamite – a decent pre-holiday episode for those who choose to partake while not absolutely essential apart from the Punk/MJF stuff for anyone who might have been travelling or spending time with loved ones instead. Speaking of which, I want to wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving – enjoy your time off to rest, relax, and count your blessings! Hopefully I’ll see you all back here next week for more Chair Shots!