It’s Wednesday and you know what that means. Dynamite is packed with hot singles action, most notably the AEW Champion MJF defends his title against Daniel Garcia in what is sure to be a barn burner. ROH TV Champion Samoa Joe is defending his belt in a hoss war with Keith Lee. The legendary Mark Briscoe is finally back from injury, he will go toe-to-toe with Jay White. Swerve Strickland and Penta El Zero Miedo will also square off in the middle of the ring. We are officially on the Sting retirement tour and the icon is in action as he teams up with Darby Allin to go against the Outrunners.
MJF Backstage Interview
MJF, interviewed by Tony Schiavone, is asked about taking the pin against Jay White last week. MJF vowed that Jay White will not repeat this feat at Full Gear. Adam Cole then called and urged MJF to take Samoa Joe’s offer, however MJF refused and said that he will defend their ROH tag titles on his own. Daniel Garcia and 2.0 then entered the fray. MJF told Garcia that he sees himself in Garcia. Garcia said that MJF will be facing a professional wrestler tonight.
Similar to last week, Roderick Strong with the Kingdom entered the shot. Strong was talked down to by MJF, before MJF walked away. Strong tried to talk to Cole before Cole hung up, just like last week. Strong seemed to have enough, he exclaimed that he is going to remind the world who he really is. It’s about time we get to see Strong in the squared circle.
AEW World Championship: MJF defeats Daniel Garcia
It seemed that Garcia was going to be inserted in the Chris Jericho-Sammy Guevara story, however an injury to Guevara might have stalled those plans. Until that is resumed, matches like this is a good use of the young starlet. The dance that Garcia does has gotten very over but it would have been smarter to strip that away for this match. The fact he was embracing being a “pro wrestler” should’ve meant a change in attitude, for at least just this match. Other than that, the match was well worked. MJF picked up the victory after countering a Dragon Tamer into a Salt of the Earth submission. After the match, MJF offered his hand as a sign of respect. Garcia was going to shake it but was stopped by 2.0. More Garcia on TV, Tony Khan!
Mark Briscoe Vignette
Briscoe previewed his match tonight with White. The pair have met many times in tag action when White was still cutting his teeth in the wrestling business. Briscoe is always a delight when he speaks, consistently so convincing.
Darby Allin & Sting defeat The Outrunners
The match was a glorified squash. Allin and Sting got their hits in for the fans, with the Icon getting the victory with the Scorpion Death-Lock.
Hikaru Shida and Toni Storm Backstage Segment
The segment was in black and white to fit the Toni Storm aesthetic. Storm has gone all in on this gimmick and has not looked back. It’s gotten a bit ridiculous but that is by design. The contract was signed and the two competitors will meet at Full Gear for the title.
Swerve Strickland defeats Penta El Zero Miedo
Strickland was extra vicious, going all out on Penta. The stomp onto the outside looked like it left a mark. Both men have very good chemistry as the counters looked smooth while simultaneously like a struggle. Strickland picked up the win, but Hangman Page rushed the ring and chased after Strickland. Page hit Strickland with a chair and hit a huge dead eye off the stage into multiple tables.
Bullet Club Gold Backstage Interview
Jay White ran down MJF and claimed he is better than him in every facet of Pro Wrestling. White will show exactly that later tonight against Mark Briscoe.
Don Callis Family Vignette
In a vignette using clips from Sega’s Like a Dragon video game, Don Callis spoke about his family and their motives when going against Kenny Omega, Chris Jericho, Paul Wight, and Kota Ibushi. Kenny Omega was also in the vignette; he branded the street fight for next week as the “Like a Dragon” street fight.
Golden Jets & Young Bucks Backstage Interview
The Golden Jets spoke about their street fight for next week, before they were interrupted by the Young Bucks. The Bucks weren’t too fond of Jericho and once again questioned Omega’s loyalty to The Elite. Jericho then ran down the Bucks and stated that he thinks that the Golden Jets can beat them. The Bucks then challenged them to a match at Full Gear, with their tag team number one contendership on the line. However, if the Bucks win, the Golden Jets are no more. Omega said he didn’t want to fight the Bucks but he knows he can beat them since he’s done it before. Omega even called his best friends whiny children. It looks as if the Young Bucks are leaning completely into this new heel role.
ROH TV Championship: Samoa Joe defeats Keith Lee
Joe and Lee exchanged some good power moves with a decent mix of athleticism. Both guys can move well for their size. While the match didn’t hit third gear, it was still a decent outing for both men. Lee hasn’t had much tv time on Dynamite, it was refreshing to see him in this role. Joe grabbed the mic post-match and made a strange decision. Joe vacated the ROH TV championship and stated that the next gold that will be around his weight is the AEW World title. Did Joe really need to vacate the belt here?
Orange Cassidy & Hook Backstage Segment
Cassidy cut a fantastic promo here, he said that this championship does not feel the same because he didn’t beat Moxley for it. Cassidy will get revenge on Moxley for leaving him in a pool of his own blood at All Out in September.
The Gunns defeat The Bollywood Boys
The Gunns quickly squashed the Bollywood Boys. The team then got on the mic and called out MJF. They vowed to win the ROH Tag Titles at Full Gear since MJF has no friends left. Backstage MJF was watching on as Samoa Joe came beside him. MJF still does not have a partner for Full Gear.
Jon Moxley & Wheeler Yuta Backstage Segment
Jon Moxley labeled the Blackpool Combat Club as the dominant predators in AEW and he let Cassidy know that he is going to beat the ever loving piss out of him. Yuta also called out Hook and warned him for next week.
Wardlow vignette
Wardlow is continuing this anti-MJF character. He mentioned that MJF made him feel worthless and that he will exact revenge on the AEW champion.
Julia Hart defeats Red Velvet
Julia Hart has gotten quite over in the last few months. However, this crowd in Portland weren’t the loudest for this match. Red Velvet didn’t look great in the ring, but it is important to note that she is back from injury. Hart picked up the win but went for the post match beatdown on Velvet. Skye Blue came to the ring to face off with Hart. Kris Statlander and Willow Nightingale soon followed. Nothing else happened in the ring as Hart just walked off. It was quite a confusing end to the segment.
Mariah May Backstage Interview
Mariah May of Stardom fame made her on-screen debut as she was interviewed by RJ City. Instead of rolling out the red carpet for the newest addition of the women’s division, they opted to make May a fangirl for Toni Storm. May told City that she joined AEW because of Storm and she got excited when City offered to let them meet next week. In a division that is severely lacking star power, it is quite the choice to have this as the way to introduce a high potential rising star.
Jay White defeats Mark Briscoe
Mark Briscoe has recently come back from injury after months on the sideline. However, he did not lose a step. There was only ever going to be one winner, but Briscoe had good opportunities with decent false finishes. Briscoe was valiant throughout the match and although he inevitably took the loss, it’ll be interesting to see where he is positioned on the card moving forward.
After the match MJF’s music hit with the champion ambushing Bullet Club Gold from behind. Jay White ran out before MJF could get his hands on him. A fired up MJF got on the mic to end the show. The lights went out soon after when they came back on, the men dressed in black were taking out The Acclaimed. The man with the devil mask then showed up on screen. MJF ran backstage to check on the trios champions, but the damage was already done. Samoa Joe walked up and told MJF that he’s running out of friends and the show faded to black.
