AEW DYNASTY

The Liacouras Center, Philly

CRU (ACTION ANDRETTI & LIO RUSH) & NICK WAYNE vs. AR FOX & TOP FLIGHT (DANTE MARTIN & DARIUS MARTIN) (11:16): The last AEW PPV, Revolution, was one of the best they've ever done...so it was fairly obvious this show would get some negative feedback. First off, the card wasn't good. The only match on paper that seemed like it would be excellent was the Omega 3-way. The last PPV we had Ospreay and Fletcher doing a Spanish Fly off of a cage and Toni Storm and Mariah May dipping their taped up hands in glass and punching each other. That was kind of hard to live up to and, honestly, they didn't really even try. The negative feedback seemed to be centered on two things: the show was too long (it ended at 12:21 AM on a Sunday night...meaning people had to work the next day) and everyone hated the main event ending. Considering I never watch these shows live, the length never bothers me. I just watch it in 2-3 chunks. The main event ending wasn't bad...it's just that people didn't like that Swerve didn't win. This was not a typical, excellent AEW PPV, though. It was entertaining throughout. And this first match on the pre-show was fantastic. The crowd was on their feet going crazy when AR Fox was doing back and forth over-the-top-rope dives from both sides of the ring like a mad man. I really wish they'd do something with Nick Wayne because he was a big star on the indie scene and AEW hasn't really done much of anything with him. Top Flight used to be a top team and they're pretty much just a low-card, forgettable team now with no future. Still, the match was a lot of fun. *** 

ANTHONY BOWENS vs. MAX CASTER (0:40): Considering AEW rarely uses a ton of talent for whatever reason, it's odd that Max Caster has been getting a ton of TV time lately for no good reason. He comes out and shows off his "Best Wrestler Alive" trademark plaque then loses quickly to someone in a squash. This might've been cute, like, once or twice. It seems like they do it all the time. Is this going anywhere? This time, Anthony Bowens came out to a big crowd pop. He's been gone for awhile for no good reason. Maybe they shouldn't have broken up this tag team? 1/2*

WILL OSPREAY vs. KEVIN KNIGHT (13:46): One reason that this card wasn't good was that it had a bunch of matches like this that were just random TV matches thrown on a PPV. I mean...at least we got a Will Ospreay match, and it was a great match. Kevin Knight used to be in a team with Kushida in NJPW. AEW just signed him. He's fun to watch but he's just going to end up in those forgettable, purposeless Top Flight type of random matches you'll see on Collision sometimes. The crowd was great tonight for awhile (they got tired late). They cheered for everything Ospreay did. The crowd even started doing European chants during the Toni Storm match which was jarring. This was the first round of the Owen Hart cup. The winner, which presumably will be Ospreay, gets a title shot at All In Texas. ***

THE HURT SYNDICATE (BOBBY LASHLEY & SHELTON BENJAMIN) vs. THE LEARNING TREE (BIG BILL & BRYAN KEITH) (10:29): I said this card wasn't any good, right? Well, here's another one. The Learning Tree is pretty much a joke. The Hurt Syndicate is a heel team that the audience loves so now they're baby faces. MJF wants to join The Hurt Syndicate so he popped up in the front row and hit Big Bill with his ring. I'm guessing this is leading to a Bobby Lashley vs. MJF match? I don't really get it, either. Match wasn't good. *1/2

MERCEDES MONE vs. JULIA HART (13:03): This was the first round of the Owen Cup which presumably Mercedes will win so she can face Toni Storm at All In Texas. I love Julia Hart because she's a cute 20 year old gymnast. She's not a very entertaining wrestler, though. This wasn't very good. *1/2

DEATH RIDERS (PAC, CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI & WHEELER YUTA) vs. RATED FTR (CASH WHEELER, DAX HARWOOD & COPE) (14:43): After the match, FTR turned on Edge and laid him out and gave him the Conchairto. That was memorable. The match wasn't. FTR is heel now. I think they used to be a few years ago, right? You kind of have to figure Edge will get a partner to face FTR. The only partner I can come up with is Christian, right? Christian was a babyface when he started in AEW. Hell, he wrestled Omega on the first ever Collision when Omega was a heel champ with Don Callis as his manager. That match was excellent. I mean...FTR vs. Edge & Christian at All In Texas would be a pretty big match. I honestly don't even remember if this match was any good but the post-match was great. **1/2

TONI STORM vs. MEGAN BAYNE (15:23): Megan Bayne is this tall, blonde woman with giant fake tits. So...I get why they're pushing her. She's not the greatest in-ring talent, though, even though she came from Stardom. The match was fine but nothing special. Toni retained her title with a roll up. *1/2

KYLE FLETCHER vs. MARK BRISCOE (16:06): This was, shockingly, the best match on the show. Holy, shit, this match was awesome. It was another Owen Cup match. Fletcher beat the living shit out of Briscoe. He gave him power bombs on the ring apron and the guardrail. His running kicks to Briscoe's face were insane. This was All Japan mid-90's type of hard-hitting brutality. The crowd ate this up. I loved this. ***1/2

BANDIDO vs. CHRIS JERICHO (18:12): This match had all the cornball cliche of an Arena Mexico match in, like, the 1960's. First off, Bandido hasn't looked that great since his return. Granted, he was out with an injury for, like, two years or something preposterous. Jericho won by hitting Bandido with a baseball bat when the ref wasn't looking. For some reason, this match had instant replay and the ref reversed it when Bandido's mother and sister and ringside mentioned the bat shot to the ref. The match was re-started and Bandido won the ROH title and kept his mask (the stipulation had him losing the mask if he lost). I mentioned a few years ago that Jericho shouldn't be in singles matches anymore. I'm standing by that! Match was kind of dull. When the ref re-started the match, Bandido's mother and sister were ringside jumping up and down cheering. Like I said, this was cornball cliche out of another era. **

ADAM COLE vs. DANIEL GARCIA (15:35): This hot, packed Philly crowd was pretty quiet for this one. They come to AEW shows to see high flying and blood. They don't want to see a regular wrestling match. This was a regular wrestling match. Adam Cole has cooled off since his high in the summer of 2023 when he teamed with MJF. Garcia lost the TNT title here and I don't think anyone cared. Oh, well. It probably didn't help that this match was the 3rd in a month between these two. *1/2

KENNY OMEGA vs. 'SPEEDBALL' MIKE BAILEY vs. RICOCHET (30:56): Everyone said this match was too long. I guess it was? My problem was that a singles match between Omega and either guy would've been better. It was too stop-start with three wrestlers in there and it didn't have that dramatic flow, it was pretty much just high spots. It was very entertaining, though, and Omega looked great. The Philly crowd woke up for this one to chant about Ricochet being bald. ***

JON MOXLEY vs. SWERVE STRICKLAND (31:14): This was a classic WWE clusterfuck main event. What that means is...you get the ref bump, the announce table break, and a ton of interference. It did at least make this interesting, because before all of that happened the match was kind of dull. Marina Shafir came into the ring with the briefcase (which has the world title). Prince Nana ran into the ring but Marina hit him with the briefcase. Moxley gave Marina an RKO by accident. Eventually, 'Hangman' Adam Page ran out. He was ready to give either Moxley or Swerve a Buckshot Lariat (the storyline is...we don't know who he was going to take out). PAC, Wheeler, and Claudio ran out. Samoa Joe, Hook, and Shibata ran out to make the save. After they all brawled to the back, Moxley pulled out a ladder from under the ring (it should be noted that this was not a no-DQ match or anything). Swerve and Moxley were brawling on the ladder by the announce table. Swerve jumped off the ladder to give Moxley a stomp through the table that broke. That was a great spot. The ref was knocked out with a thrown chair somewhere during this mele. The lights went out. When the lights came on, The Young Bucks had Swerve in the ring and they gave him the EVP double knee. The ref woke up and Moxley pinned Swerve to retain the title. Okay. Deep breath. That was a lot. It was entertaining even though everyone online seemed to hate it. The Young Bucks are still heels? I kind of thought they'd return as good guys. They've been gone for 6 months. They did wrestle twice this year for NJPW in Japan (they won and lost the tag titles). And where's Jack Perry? Why does AEW have a black hole where talent disappears? Like...where's Britt Baker? I did give a lot of matches on this show low ratings so it certainly wasn't a great show or anything but it entertained me throughout and the crowd was awesome for a lot of it. **1/2