Episode 47 came to us on a rare Thursday night, as they were preempted from their usual spot due to NBA Basketball. This Thursday night was special, as not only was Chris Jericho on commentary, but Daily’s Place in Jacksonville was back to having a live audience for the first time since the pandemic shutdown. Social distancing and 10 percent building capacity were in effect, and the crowd really added to the show in certain moments. Let’s dive right in.
Tag Team Contenders Gauntlet
Even though FTR has clearly been ranked #1 in the company for a few weeks, AEW decided to do a contendership elimination gauntlet, where the winners would face Page and Omega at All Out. This defeats the purpose of rankings, but at least they brought out the teams in the order of their ranks. We started with the Young Bucks vs. Dustin Rhodes and QT Marshall, which was a solid opener. It was shorter and more conservative than other Bucks’ matches due to the fact that the Bucks had another match to follow here. Dustin has a great fire-up and presence here that the newer wrestlers lack. The Bucks hit the BTE Trigger to advance in a solid opener. Next up are the Best Friends, and this fall went WAY too long. Best Friends have been wrestling a lot lately, and AEW has really gotten behind them, in spite of their poor presentation (with a feud revolving around Trent’s mother’s van). This really hit a lull with no breaks in between matches and too many false finishes. Adam Page comes out and reluctantly holds one of the Bucks’ feet, causing them a roll-up loss here. Nice way to continue the Elite dissension and keep the Bucks and FTR apart until later.
The final phase of this gauntlet was the best, as FTR faced off against Best Friends. The Tully-managed team dominated here, isolating Best Friends’ legs and working an isolation style. FTR really adds a gritty veteran presence to an otherwise spotfest division here. FTR gets the win with a surprising Indian Death Lock of sorts. The crowd and announcers didn’t see it coming. But the right result happened here, as FTR faces Omega and Page for the Tag Titles at All Out.
We get another quick black and white Darby Allin promo, this time wearing the face of Ricky Starks. I couldn’t understand his verbiage, but he jumped off of a very high bridge. I like the different feel and production of these vignettes, but I don’t understand the presentation. Darby is always mumbling and wearing faces and jumping off of high things. He’s a special talent, but I think these have been missing trying to capture his feuds.
Lance Archer vs. Sean Maluta
It’s good to finally see Archer wrestling on Dynamite again, and it’s good to see Sean Maluta debuting here. Maluta made some appearances in the Cruiserweight Classic and NXT, and was signed to Evolve until WWE bought it. He’s got a family lineage and some raw skills that could land him more work. Archer came out as a house of fire, and won an impressive squash here with the Blackout and Claw combo.
Jake Roberts gets on the mic and says that Archer is in a 21-man Casino Battle Royal at All Out, where the winner gets a shot at the World Title. He cuts a decent promo, until Taz and Cage/Starks come out. Cage and Archer stare each other down, and that would be a heck of a program. Taz and Jake have fun on the mic until Darby Allin comes out and attacks Ricky Starks. I’d much rather have seen Allin vs. Starks in a singles match at the PPV, but these two seem to match up nicely. The whole segment was impressive, yet felt very rushed. There were several times in this show where it felt mistimed, and this was one of them. I’d like to see more from all 6 men.
We go to a package about Shida vs. Thunder Rosa at All Out. They do a nice job hyping up Thunder Rosa, and they put her over as the NWA Champion. NWA President Billy Corgan does a voiceover over NWA footage. Apparently AEW and NWA are working together here, and that’s excellent news for fans of both promotions. Excellent package.
We get the MJF and Jon Moxley contract signing for their All Out title match next, and this was one of the show-stealing segments. MJF starts first and says that he’ll out think Moxley by keeping their match in the ring. He says Moxley only knows hardcore garbage wrestling, and name-drops guys from ECW, CZW, and Japan. Moxley says he wants to hurt MJF and this will force him to get creative to beat him. Moxley signs the contract to not use his Paradigm Shift DDT at the PPV, but says they also signed for Moxley to wrestle MJF’s lawyer last week. The lawyer bit seems thrown in and unnecessary, but the contract signing was good. Moxley showed solid fire, but MJF is currently the best promo/heel in wrestling.
We see an Eddie Kingston inset promo, and this was gritty and legitimate. Kingston says he’s helping his longtime friends and helping himself too. He has a realness to him that most others don’t. Let’s get Kingston on the mic every week.
Butcher/Blade/Lucha Bros vs. Brian Pillman Jr/Griff Garrison/Sonny Kiss/Joey Janela
This was a showcase for Kingston’s new stable, and while it was a bit out of control, it did the job. It was great to see MLW talent Brian Pillman Jr. on Dynamite, and Janela/Kiss make great enhancement talent. This was a wild and fun exhibition that Pentagon won with a suplex/double stomp combo from Fenix. Kingston says at the end that all five of them will be in the casino battle royal. Clearly Kingston is feathering his own nest here.
Evil Uno is out with a mic, as Dark Order carries a casket to celebrate Brodie’s burial of Cody last week. Uno isn’t great on the mic here, and says Dark Order has bought a bunch of lawn mowers and cars since Brodie won. These props are SO weird and out of place for a dark cult group. Brodie comes out and gets in the ring with Tony Schiavone. He says that he buried Cody and that the TNT Title open challenge is over. He says nobody can take his title. His promo is fiery in parts and decent, but the masked jobbers in the background keep jumping and chanting at him. He introduces Anna Jay as an official member. Dustin, QT, Scorpio Sky, and Matt Cardona come out and dispatch of Dark Order individually. The broadcast team wasn’t clear if this 4-on-4 match would happen next week, or at All Out.
What a mess. From the commentary team, to the bad promo from Uno, to the silly chanting, to the members getting continually beat up, the ONLY people that matter and are protected in Dark Order are Brodie and Anna. Get rid of them all and start over. The gimmick, and those two, have massive potential. But the presentation here was absolutely forced, silly, and rushed.
We see Page drinking at the bar, as the Bucks approach him. I like that the Bucks are serious and truly intense here, for Page costing them their earlier match. They kick Page out of the Elite, and he looks very upset. My guess is that Omega put Page up to the interference, and he’s the one to turn on his partner soon. Nice story arc here.
Big Swole vs. Rebel/Penelope Ford
This was rushed and messy, and should’ve been saved for next week. Britt Baker says if Swole wins this handicap match, she gets Baker in any match she wants in the future. Clearly this was all leading to Baker’s in-ring return at All Out. Rebel is still acting like she can’t wrestle here, and the other two don’t do much better. Sabian takes another bump for Swole, and a few things get botched in short order. Swole pins Ford in a swift, messy bout.
Dark Order comes back out, as Anna Jay offers Tay Conti a contract to join them, and Conti accepts. Conti is an NXT athlete who’s been teaming with Anna during the tag team women’s tourney. This is a good signing for AEW.
Sammy Guevara vs. Matt Hardy
This tables match main event was given about 7 minutes total. They deeply mistimed a lot of this show, and this match had two picture-in-picture segments. After multiple table spots and blood during the commercial, Sammy quickly wins with a superplex through a table. This well-built feud had good steam behind it, and was totally thrown away and wasted here. Bad job on the technical side of AEW, and I feel bad for the wrestlers. I hope these two get a fair rematch to show what they can do. Orange Cassidy sprints out for a quick attack on Jericho to end the show.
This was surely an action packed show. They crammed more action in here than perhaps any previous episode. While one or two things should’ve been pushed back and were hurt by this poor timing, the commentary and crowd did add a lot to it. The promos on this show were high quality, and the hype is massive for the featured All Out matches. They need to format better next week, but there’s a lot to look forward to before the PPV.
