AEW's Five Fingers of Death Week of 10/25-10/31

A couple of years ago we did weekly posts when the WWE was running cool weekly TV matches with Oney Lorcan, Drew Gulak, Jack Gallagher, and Brian Kendrick. Those guys got buried deep, cancelled, or retired, but we're bringing it back! With AEW running plenty of killer weekly TV matches featuring all-timers Darby Allin, Bryan Danielson, Eddie Kingston, CM Punk, and Dustin Rhodes. We're running it back with a twist!

AEW Dark 10/26 (Taped 10/24)

Eddie Kingston vs. Jack Evans - FUN

PAS: Crazy that these two guys had never had a singles match before considering how long both guys were on the indies. Evans is best known for flips, but he is a world class guy at getting beaten up and he is at Chris Frazier level here, with Kingston caving his chest in with hard chops and twisting him like taffy with the stretch muffler. Evans gets in some spin kicks, and Eddie does some nice nerve selling before putting him away. I think this would have been better in a different time with less of a hierarchy difference, but it was definitely an enjoyable TV match.

MD: Unsurprisingly, this was really good. Good on Jack for being irritating enough to get heat after coming in so flippy and entertaining. To be fair, it's pretty evident that you don't get anything like a normal tourist crowd with these studio shows, which is probably a shame. Still, it went from the studio wrestling comedy with Bryce and Jack's new look to Eddie leaning hard into Jack's kicks very abruptly. Then Evans not just leaned into the chops but ran into them (but in a way that made total sense for his character and the match). Evans bumped himself on his own Michinoku Driver which is on brand. Both of these guys made what their opponent did look amazing throughout. Took two tries for the Saito suplex because that's the house style; everything either takes effort and fails the first time or hits the first time and gets countered the second. It makes sense to have Eddie win with the Stretch Plum since to help (re)-establish it as a weapon for the Danielson match; it let Excalibur point out during that match that he won with it here.

Bryan Danielson vs. Aaron Solo

PAS: Danielson is going to work a long match with pretty much anyone, and throw enough fun stuff in it to make it worth a watch. Solo has a very power plant offensive resume, I liked his double stomp, but otherwise it was very Evan Corageousish. I dug how Danielson interacted with Factory outside the ring, getting clocked by a nice QT Marshall right hand, and taking out Comoroto with a tope. I dig WCW Pro American Dragon, but there are a lot more interesting opponents for him in the enhancement pool.

MD: One good thing about enhancement or JTTS matches is that it lets people actually hit moves that will get countered almost every other bigger match. Most of the time Danielson goes for his corner flurry that ends with the top rope 'rana, some aspect of it gets countered. Here it worked. Basic Flair hitting moves off the top rope occasionally logic. Unfortunately, Solo was intrinsically less interesting than Comoroto or QT as an opponent. The deal with AEW Danielson is he's going to push you to your point of desperation and Solo's point of desperation was pretty mild. The most interesting things here were when QT was getting involved and how Danielson leaned into those late 80s WWF narrative opportunities. Honestly, given it was his first studio match in forever, I'm a little surprised Danielson didn't do anything more experimental here. I suppose that he's saving that for hooded nonsense?

AEW Dynamite 10/27

19. CM Punk vs. Bobby Fish

MD: I'm starting to see some patterns with Punk's matches. Structurally, the first acts are pretty complete, to the point where I could have seen things legitimately ending after the tope and being a nice, little TV match. Instead, that's the predecessor to the heat. The Garcia and Sydal matches had similar moments where they just broke open. In general, Punk looks as smooth and physically sound as I may have ever seen him. I'm guessing it's either due to the time off or all the training he did for MMA and just changing his body and his way of moving. The early knees in the corner looked great. The switch around neckbreaker looked so smooth. The way he's able to adapt to working on one limb while making some of his stuff, like the elbow drop, look as good as ever, is pretty impressive. And that's just the half of it. Punk was getting fans to pop huge for bodyslams. In 2021. Three times. There's so much value to that and so much skill and so much daring and fearlessness to just lean into something simple and trust that the fans will go along with you for the ride. They did, 100%. 

There's value in having matches paced like this on an AEW card to help (re)train the fans. Once this got going, I liked how Fish varied his offense, which made things a little different than the Punk/Garcia match. The hurt leg was often a means to his other shots, which themselves were a means to let him target the leg again. It was a good 65/35 balance between leg shots and cutoffs and other bits of offensive striking. That was obvious and overt. Less obvious was the early transition where he picked Punk up in a fireman's carry and in my head, that was to goad punk into going for the GTS too early. A leap? Maybe but these guys earned plenty of good will here. As for that kickout right on 3 on the GTS? It was the guy's birthday and more importantly it was earned and set up by Punk's inability to get over there quickly and the fact he couldn't cover Fish how he would have wanted. The move was still protected. Fish was protected. No problems there.

PAS: Fish is a guy who had Shawn Michaels NXT and Davey Richards era ROH stink on him for me, but man did I dig him here. He seemed to cut any superfluous nonsense out of his work and focused instead on vicious looking leg kicks and Thai knees. I am going to be into a guy who basically works like Mitsuya Nagai and he was a fun foil for Punk. Fish was really obliterating his leg with those heavy kicks, nearly knocking him over with every shot, and it allowed Punk to do some fun selling with the one legged elbow drop and the delay on the GTS. Punk does look physically great (working once a week will do that for you) and his stuff has way more impact than I remembered. Great match, wasn't really expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. 

ER: Bobby Fish is one of those wrestling weirdos with terrible life opinions who came up in systems entirely surrounded by people with terrible wrestling visions, who also somehow keeps getting better as a wrestler the older he gets. Punk has been out of wrestling the entire time Fish was turning into an old cool limb twister, and somehow Punk has turned into an actual execution guy. Hitting your 40s and suddenly hitting your offense better than you ever have before is a great trick and I sincerely don't think we've seen Punk look this crisp...ever. His strikes look better, and Matt pointed out how the MMA training likely helped that along, but everything he does looks better than it did a decade ago. His attention to detail is different and it makes things like those corner knees more potent, but just the way he works his way through a bit of offense looks so much better. My favorite bit was the final GTS sequence, with Punk fighting Fish up onto his shoulders only to have Fish reverse into a nasty dragon screw that I actually thought would lead to the finish, and I love how Punk fought to get Fish back up into the GTS and struggled through hitting it clean. 

But the match building to that great stretch was filled with cool moments that felt totally different than any CM Punk match I've seen. Fish was mean about targeting Punk's leg, and I flipped out when he hit an inside leg kick that sent Punk's leg shooting off to the side and wide open for a Fish follow up. Fish kicking out at the 3 could have easily felt egregious depending on how it was handled in the immediate aftermath, and it's a tough (and fairly unnecessary) needle to thread. If the timing is even slightly off then the finish looks blown and the entire great match is remembered for that busted finish. But the timing of the entire finish worked really well, with Punk nailing the GTS and then collapsing, making it over to Fish just in time to secure the pin. Great match. 

AEW Rampage 10/29 (Taped 10/27)

1. Eddie Kingston vs. Bryan Danielson - EPIC

PAS: Danielson has been so great working within the match styles of his opponents in AEW, working the world's best Omega match, the best possible Suzuki match, and a great Dustin match just last week. I was interested to see what type of Eddie match he would work, as Eddie can do a bunch of different things.  This was slugfest Kingston, and I love slugfest Kingston. Eddie is willing to deliver a huge beating, and absorb a huge beating, but what really makes him a master at those kind of matches is his selling. So many great little moments of Kingston here: the dazed look after the head kick, the hulking up on the strikes while still feeling every shot, his reaction to arm numbness, just a masterclass of the little things. The big things in this match ruled too: Danielson gets every blood vessel in his chest opened up, and was throwing his kicks just as hard. They named dropped All Japan a bunch on the commentary, but this was more Tenryu than Kawada, just a pair of tough guys standing in the pocket and trying to knock each other out. Loved the escalation here, with the big DDT nearfall being spectacular, and the triangle choke being one of the better finishes of the year. 

MD: What a match. I'd gone back and watched the 2010 match between these two, which was Danielson's first match back on the indies after the Nexus tie incident in WWE and it was striking how forward-driving and aggressive Danielson had been working then, very similar to how he is now. In that match, Kingston just ate all of Danielson's stuff, got beaten around the ring, and threw suplexes as hope spots as the fans got what they wanted on that night.

This is a leaner and somehow meaner Eddie though, and he proved to be the wall that could halt the previously unstoppable freight train that's been AEW Danielson. He stormed to the ring, hovered in the corner waiting for the bell, and came out unleashed. From the first unclean break, it was on, and Kingston felt like the protagonist of this story, first surviving Danielson's kicks to his leg, then surviving the armwork. Every moment here felt uncooperative and earned. I got the sense at one point that Danielson was drawing Kingston in to launch the machine-gun chops in the corner too early so that he could switch it and start on the kicks. The match was full of moments that made you wonder like that.

It really opened up once Eddie hit the belly to back on the floor and then the awesome slingshot belly to back using the turnbuckle. From there, it was unmitigated violence, with Danielson trying to open things back up with a well-timed block or shot, but Kingston just able to chop him down. Danielson had the welts on his chest to prove it and it was all capped with that amazing moment of defiance as he was crumpled in pain. If Suzuki was the first guy to really make Danielson lose his zen coolness, Kingston totally shattered it by forcing that middle finger from the corner. Eddie wasn't going to put him away with those though, which eventually led him to the top rope and the really epic battle that ensued, with Kingston punching up every time he got shrugged off and Danielson doing an amazing sell job, slumping all over the place.

I loved how it was a belly to back (avalanche) which turned the tide again. After that, as they went into the stretch, the amazing moments just flowed in one after the other. The kick to the head. The DDT. The attempt at the armbar. The backfist. Eddie collapsing and Danielson showing him absolutely no mercy by swarming him, and the crowd reacting huge to each and every one of these, despite having already sat through two hours of Dynamite. All of it led to the triangle (yet another finishing move) and that last paralleled moment of defiance by Kingston. Each of these moments was timed exactly as it should be. Just a beautifully balanced, perfectly paced, meaningful, uncooperative, character driven, resonant pro wrestling match.

ER: I loved this so much. I think it's the best Eddie Kingston match since he's been in AEW, and I think it's Bryan Danielson's best match since the best match of 2020, which was Bryan vs. Gulak at Elimination Chamber. The match felt like Tenryu vs. Fujiwara's Greatest Son, and since Tenryu/Fujiwara is a match we really only got to see once, that's a welcome match type. For two guys who wrestled full time at the exact same time for over 30 years, Tenryu and Fujiwara only matched up once in WAR (in 1997, and it ruled). Kingston and Danielson were in the all time great ROH/CZW Cage of Death, and then had a 2010 singles after Bryan's NXT debut but before his NEXUS debut. However, as much as I love both of these guys, I don't think this was a match they could have had in 2010.

Both men have injuries they didn't have a decade ago, Danielson has a family, Kingston is an uncle, both have a new decade of risks they didn't have in 2010, both have considered retirements more than once, and both have now wrestled in front of crowds the size they hadn't seen in 2010. Things are different now, and I don't think they could have done this at any other time. I loved everything about this, and the details have been covered well by Phil and Matt. Kingston turned Danielson's chest into meat and hit some of the greatest strikes of his career: his shotei to knock Danielson off the ropes was better than any palm strike I've ever seen Liger hit, his backfist looked like a murder (and Danielson sold it like he just took a bullet into an open grave), and he threw his suplexes with his whole body. Danielson is an execution guy known for his tight offense, and he worked an impossibly tight match here. The timing and pacing of everything was perfect, and Danielson was kicking Kingston as hard as he was getting chopped. Since Eddie Kingston is nuts, he was taking Danielson's kicks in the most painful way each time, getting kicked across the shins and thighs and then leaning head first into kicks while on his knees. 

The nearfalls down the stretch all felt like worthy finishes, and it's incredibly fun watching two masters peak and peak and peak their rollercoaster and still make each turn more thrilling than the last. Kingston refusing to die is one of my favorite things in pro wrestling history, and any time Danielson gets pushed by someone to that next level of aggression and violence, his finishing stretches are unparalleled. The nearfalls all work, and I really bit on that DDT of Eddie's. This was a great pro wrestling match that would be great in any year, but really only could have happened this year. 

2021 MOTY MASTER LIST

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Matches from PWG All Star Weekend Night 1 1/5/08

Low-Ki vs. Bryan Danielson - EPIC

PAS: This was their first match against each other in four years, and their last ever indy match (they had a couple of FCW matches during their time in WWE Developmental). This was the matchup that launched modern indy wrestling, but this is one of their least hyped matches (PWG footage used to take so long to show up, that sometimes their stuff would fall a bit through the cracks). This was really great, as good if not better then their matches earlier in the decade. This was structured a bit differently, as these weren't young guys trying to prove themselves, but established stars. Danielson worked this as a heel, really trying to torture Ki by ripping up his arm in gross ways, he also had mixed in a fair amount of MMA spots in his arsenal, and there was a couple of really slick moves in and out of the guard, I especially dug him working an armbar, jumping into guard to throw down elbows, and slipping right back into the arm bar. Danielson also kept attacking with Goodrich elbows, setting up the finish nicely. Ki breaks out a bunch sick kicks to the chest and face, including catching a Bryan tope with a head kick. The finish run was awesome stuff, as they are fighting on the top rope, Ki actually bites Bryan getting him in position for the Warriors Way, Ki then hits the Ki Krusher, and spins it into the Ki clutch where he pays Bryan back with Goodrich elbows of his own. This is a undercover classic, I think it had too much matwork for the people who were really pushing PWG in 2008, but I am always going to love these guys banging the mat. 

Jack Evans vs. Roderick Strong

PAS: This was a fun match, although fell a little short of what these guys can do at their peak. Evans, at this point especially, was completely rubber-spined, and Strong found a bunch of ways to twist him into pain pretzels, at one point he had him wrapped up the ropes and nearly touched his ankles to the back of his head. Strong also unloaded some blistering chops, and Evans took a gross bump to the floor when he missed a dive and nuked his ankle. Evans always had a bit of an offense problem, he is kind of the Lugentz Dort of indy wrestling, he ends up going over in this match, and I just had a hard time buying the stuff he threw putting Strong down, although the 450 always looks great.

Eddie Kingston/Claudio Castagnoli/Human Tornado vs. Necro Butcher/Chris Hero/Candice LeRae -EPIC

PAS: This was a total blast, a wild brawl which ebbed and flowed had great pacing and told a bunch of little awesome mini stories. All six hit the ring fast and start brawling, and they eventually spill into the parking lot. Necro starts throwing rocks at the heel team, I mean big stones tossed hard, the kind of reckless insanity which made Necro special. This was a Necro masterpiece, he wilds out smashing the shit out Tornado and Kingston with crazed punches, at one point he comes in as a hot tag a just throws these totally gross JYD no hands headbutts. Tornado is a great gross cheapshotting prick, he absolutely obliterates LeRae with a superkick to the throat which puts her on the shelf for most of the match. Every time Kingston and Hero matched up it was as borderline unprofessional as you want from those two, and the finish was great with LeRae getting back into the match only for Eddie with a full wifebeater smirk, line her up for a backfist, with Hero diving in front of the bullet only to lose the match. On paper this looks awesome and in ring it delivered on it's promise.

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AEW All Out 9/5/21 Pt. 1

Private Party/Jack Evans/Angelico/Matt Hardy vs. Jungle Boy/Orange Cassidy/Luchasaurus/Wheeler Yuta/Chuck Taylor

PAS: This was a match full of guys I am a low voter on (I like Jungle Boy, Hardy and Jack Evans a fair amount, the rest aren't for me), but this kind of fast moving 10 man is a good way to hid limited guys and keep things moving at a nice pace. The Private Party have some fun SAT's double teams, and didn't have to do things they couldn't do. The top rope blockbuster by Jungle Boy was a great spot, and they did some amusing Chikara stuff like the chicken fight and submission chain, and left slow motion spots and invisible grenades in the trash where they belong. I don't know why Chuck Taylor did two dives to the floor and Jack Evans did none and Luchasarus needs to dump the spin kick when Tommy End is in your fed, but otherwise this got Cassidy and Jungle Boy on the show and it is smart to get really over acts like them to open a show. 

Eddie Kingston vs. Miro - EPIC

PAS: The first real Eddie Kingston classic we have seen in AEW. This was King's Road Eddie, he maybe the only US wrestler to actually understand what made those All Japan matches so special, and it wasn't the moves it was the meaning. Eddie and Miro really beat the hell out of each other with Miro landing great looking kicks and straight rights and Eddie absolutely beating the hell out of Miro's chest and neck with blood blistering chops. I loved the little selling Eddie did throughout the match, eyes getting glassy after eating big shots, never fully able to get movement in his back after getting powerslammed on the floor, shaking out his fingers when Miro bit them, masterful stuff from one of the greatest sellers in wrestling history. All of the stuff with the turnbuckle pad was great business. Remsberg being a beat too slow on the Kingston pinfall, him stopping Kingston from slamming Miro into the turnbuckle only to be out of position and miss the low blow. This is how you protect an over babyface like Eddie, he was the better man, but lost out due to fate. This is another level performance by Miro and another feather in Eddie's all time resume. 

ER: Incredible, passionate performance for Eddie Kingston, a guy with a career's worth of great passionate matches. He's the guy I currently want to see against every other wrestler, the guy I think is most likely to have someone's best match (at least until Hero gets back). And if there's a Miro match I've ever enjoyed more, it's been many years since it happened, as these two really tapped into something. This is the coolest version of Miro we've gotten, and I love Eddie in big title matches so I was buzzed about it. Eddie got to have a great selling match, working a ton of match long bits in between quick bursts of damaging Miro. Eddie brings that ability to have a chance in any moment of the match, the same way Fujiwara was always in it. Kingston could lose every single match he's in for two years straight and people will still believe he has a chance the next match. It's a strong connection and it elevates his biggest singles matches. 

I fully bought into how big each guy was missing, both running hard into turnbuckles and guardrails, and I also bought into how both would immediately come firing back. Kingston firing off the guardrail with a yakuza kick or how Miro would scream into Eddie. Eddie's chops really did look blistering, and the way all of his offense had these triumphant builds due to the way Miro had avoided them really added to his aura. Seeing Kingston finally land his tope or his backfist really meant something, and the two suplexes he hit looked like a title change. I really liked all the nonsense with the turnbuckle, loved the way it played out. Miro's winning combo was like something Kingston himself would set up: A mule kick low, big high kick, and a big exclamation point running kick to turn out the lights. Great presentation, great title match. 

Jon Moxley vs. Satoshi Kojima

PAS: This was a solid hard hitting New Japan style match which I think was hurt a bit by following Kingston and Miro doing a better version of a similar thing. They really put Kojima over on commentary and it is cool he got to have a big US moment like this. Stuff landed with thuds and I thought Kojima got several big near falls (without ever hitting his Koji lariat), the DDT on the apron looked appropriately nasty and the bloody elbow from Moxley added a bit of spice to the match. But this had a lot of the elbow strike, make a face, elbow strike stuff which I don't like in current Japanese wrestling. Suzuki coming out post match felt like a big moment and I like how AEW takes advantage of an open door policy to have surprises like this.

2021 MOTY MASTER LIST

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AEW Dynamite Workrate Report 12/9/20

What Worked

-I wasn't really feeling the Bucks/Hybrid2 match, but the more ridiculous shit got kicked out of, the more I got into it. If you're gonna get crazy with it, get crazy with it. If you're going to indulge, indulge. This blew several minutes past where I assumed it was going to end, and that somehow wound up working in favor of the match. I don't love Nick Jackson's superkick as a finisher, but I love it as a cut off spot, and there were some great cut off kicks here. My favorite spot of the match was Evans missing the Angelico-assisted 450, and basically landing face first into a superkick. When the timing is that tight, it's such a great looking spot. The whole match felt like it was Jack Evans kicking out of one Bucks finisher after the other, then getting up two seconds later to hit another crazy flip, and that's the kind of BS I can get into. If you're going to have a bunch of kickouts, just go for it and through everything else out the window. That's what they did, that's why it worked. 

-The match itself was a little messy, but how could I not get behind FTR beating the hell out of Brian Pillman Jr.? Dax especially seemed to really be going after him, and it looked awesome. I loved Cash baiting Griff Garrison around the ring and back into being stopped by the ref, allowing them to hit a great Demolition Decapitation on Pillman. Dax's chops and elbows really sang off Pillman's body, and I like the way the tag was worked as a real hierarchy tag. Varsity Blondes have won a few matches on Dark, get their shot on Dynamite, get mostly run over by FTR. Having that kind of slow progress is a really satisfying way to present wrestling for me, feels similar to working Kings Road guys up the card. Pillman got to land a really great punch on Dax on the floor, and I love how Dax sold it like his orbital bone just got hit with a wrench. 

-Dustin took a big bump off the apron and hit a nice bulldog finish on Ten, though any time Dustin is on TV I think he should get at least 4 minutes. Dustin is a smart enough worker to have a special 4 minute match, anything shorter than that feels like a waste of bullets. They also managed to make a couple jokes about his Seven gimmick while avoiding a "we know what THAT means" wink, with Tony hitting the right tone with his "well he doesn't want to go by THAT number".

-Abadon looked like a real savage murdering Tesha Price with elbows in the corner and an awesome stranglehold STO. I don't know what she'll look like in a full match, but her squash work has been compelling. 

What Didn't Work

-I still don't know what to expect from Sting in AEW, and I'm not really excited for whatever it might be. I've never been a big Sting guy (nothing personal, just didn't have cable growing up so child me had no idea who Sting even was), and I can't imagine becoming a Sting guy now that he is in his 60s. 

-I kind of want someone new to throw a glass of water into Shaq's face every couple weeks, never actually leading to any kind of match, only used as a way to get a bunch of different comical dripping Shaq reaction faces. That, or I want a Shaq/Brandi street fight. 

-It feels like a crime to put an Eddie Kingston match down below, but that trios match had too much awkward miscommunication. Fenix looked bad, and honestly he hasn't looked very good ever since that awful match against his brother where he got dropped on his head. The camera caught him missing an early kick on Blade by nearly two feet, and his performance didn't get better. Butcher and Blade (mainly Butcher) were not going to be the ones to help him get back on the page, and Fenix/Butcher got hung up on a time stand still loop, trapped in a Rainmaker set up for way too long, neither sure who was supposed to turn around. At one point it looked like Kingston was trying to set up a blind tag to Butcher and Blade, but both of them just stood on the apron while Kingston yelled at them repeatedly to get in the ring, before he just went back to beating on Fenix himself. The only good from this match came from Kingston himself, since Butcher and Blade didn't seem to understand that they were supposed to be cutting off the ring. Kingston's beatdown on Fenix looked good, and I dug the way he took a beating from Lance Archer, while also doing stuff like holding onto Archer's leg from the mat, to keep him close. He took a clunky headscissors from Fenix, and sadly couldn't do much to catch a Fenix tope con hilo as Fenix landed short. The match finishing powerbomb/neckbreaker on Fenix looked intentionally gentle, possibly because his short tope con hilo landed him harder on the back of his neck than this finish would have. Maybe it would be a good idea for Fenix to not wrestle for awhile? 

-I am in the MJF in ring > MJF mic (but I mean that as a compliment, not the I suppose obvious take that it is), but this MJF/Orange Cassidy match was not good. There was a lot of work based around Cassidy's hand, which gets instantly forgotten once it's time for Cassidy's comeback, but - this will surprise you - comes back for one spot and one spot only and this hand that injured hand that was not even acknowledged for several minutes was now suddenly sold more than it had been sold in any other part of the match. Cassidy was good at taking MJF's offense, and MJF was especially good at feeding Cassidy's comeback, really leaning into everything and planting himself on all things that required it. Sadly, the best part of the match was probably the locker room babyfaces emptying out to cheer Orange on, but it all happened during the commercial break. That kind of noise would have been cool to hear. 

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AEW Dynamite Workrate Report 11/25/20

What Worked

-I liked most of Hangman vs. Silver, good way to start off the show. Silver is a fun guy to feature, a compact power pack who was really good at cutting off Page. One of my least favorite things in Page matches is how unnecessarily complicated some of his offense is, and how it is never reversed. I liked how Silver cut off a lot of signature offense, like hitting a rana to counter the rope flip lariat. It made Page approach things differently and made for a more satisfying story. Silver has a low center of gravity and can use it in cool ways, like dropping low to the ground to do a quick go behind and snap German suplex. I wish Page had treated Silver's kicks a little more seriously, as it felt like we were building to something really cool when Silver was kicking away at Page, not letting him up, dodging right when he needed to, landing a big hooking kick to the jaw, but Page kinda just stood up and beat him anyway. Also, Silver doesn't need to do the half gainer flip bump every time he takes a clothesline. He did it three times here and you really don't need to be doing the same signature bump three times in three minutes. However, he also planted Page with a brainbuster and took a nice high backdrop bump, and there was more than enough here to make it work. 

-When Lee Johnson makes it onto Dynamite, you know you're getting a nice squad match, because he always takes the best beatings in squash matches. I need to seek out some of his Dark matches to see how he does with actual offense, because I like the way he bumps for lariats and other big offense. He doesn't take intentionally athletic feather soft bumps, his bumps look like he is being hurt. He made that lariat on the floor look brutal, and I don't think Will Hobbs has a very brutal lariat. 

-I do like that AEW is the kind of fed that makes mention about how cool it is that Jericho and Chris Daniels are meeting for the very first time. That's always cool to me when two guys who have been in wrestling for so long finally cross paths in the ring, like Buddy Rose facing Kerry von Erich in WWF. And let me tell you, if this was the year 1999 or 2000, I could not tell you just how over the moon excited I would be to see a Jericho/Daniels match. But this 2020 version is probably about as good as could reasonably expected. Jake Hager was my favorite guy here, and Hager might be THEE guy that I am absolutely never excited to see on my TV screen who can actually deliver something cool. He always gets an "oh sheesh this guy?" reaction from me, but I can't deny how much I enjoy Hager's meathead mouth breathing style. The best part of this was when Hager was driving his knee right into Danielses' back while throwing fists right into the ribs. It looked nasty as hell. 

-The gear AND choreography of the Omega Sweepers has improved every week. It's really satisfying to watch performers get better at their craft in real time. Moxley beatdown was strong. I want Moxley to wreck this guy. 

-Shida/Anna Jay was better than I expected, mainly because Jay doesn't even have 20 career matches work. Obviously there are going to be some glitches, so I'm more impressed with the things she can pull off naturally. She is really strong at making up the difference when selling strikes, like when Shida threw a dropkick that landed a little low and Jay sold her jaw convincingly. She goes to the jaw/mouth sell a bit much, did it right before that dropkick when missing a charge into the buckles, but it's a strong looking sell so hats off. I liked a lot of the ways she would counter Shida offense, like blocking the running apron knee with a downward strike, and especially her shifting weight at the last minute to land on Shida after a vertical suplex. I thought it was just a bad looking suplex at first, but I love a reversal that actually makes it look like the move wasn't pulled off quite right. Reversals in 2020 wrestling are so clean that they usually don't look like they're reversing anything. This looked like Shida tried to do a suplex and wasn't expecting Jay's weight shift. The nearfall kickout by Shida was perfectly timed, actually got me to buy into Jay sneaking away with the upset. 

-Fenix running into Blade's awesome powerslam, that works.

What Didn't Work

-Taz dropping silly shooty comments like "creative has nothing for me" or "wish me luck in my future endeavors" does nothing for me. Taz does not come off threatening to me at this point, and there are too many guys on the roster who could have locked in a better looking submission. Cody's burn about Taz's son (Hook!) training with Cody and not Taz was strong. 

-I feel bad for all the people who have strongly backed Rusev and have been gifted Miro. 

-I love Jack Evans and would rather see him on Dynamite than any number of other less interesting flippers that have been featured. But it's also really weird to give Top Flight a big Dynamite match last week ago, a match that got them buzz and made a big impression, to then bring Evans and Angelico back to Dynamite just to beat Top Flight. I don't think the match worked as a match, as all of these AEW flyer vs. flyer matches feel so same-y. I don't think Top Flight does much of anything that comes off natural, can't adjust on the fly; They can either do long semi-complicated sequences that end with something dumb like kicking Angelico in the arm, or they do weird things like adjust their several feet while rope running. It all comes off like guys just running through some spots that don't always feel like they belong to the same match. I did like the way Angelico went after Daunte's leg, thought his roll throughs to trap Daunte in leg locks and holds looked super cool and felt like old IWRG bleeding into AEW. Also, it is supremely annoying to give these guys names like Darius and Daunte, because there is no way I'm going to remember which one is fucking Daunte and which is Darius. Air Wolf I can remember, but Darius Martin? 

-I didn't think Fenix and PAC looked good as a team. They're two guys who, from their styles, seem like they would complement each other nicely, but their set ups felt long and things missed the mark. But I thought Butcher and the Blade looked good as heel opposition, thought Butcher looked great as a fist swinging bully, thought Blade worked some nice sequences with Fenix and especially loved Fenix aborting a flying attack off the top, jumping past Blade, and running hard into a great snap powerslam. But the match overall felt scattered and like it would have been a real mess without Butcher and Blade. 

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AEW Dynamite Workrate Report 10/7/20

 What Worked

-Both Young Bucks standing and watching TV while peering back over their shoulders, set apart so that both were visible for the shot, was such a hilarious artistic decision. I suppose they could have been watching the TV from between their legs, but then we wouldn't have had them posed side by side, watching TV over their shoulders like they were stand-ins on a Nelson album cover. 

-Ringside doctor being announced before a dog collar match is a nice touch, and having Greg Valentine there is even better. Even better than that, is Valentine's graphic that refers to him as a "Dog Collar Match Survivor". 

-I LOVE that Dr. Luther was in the main for Jericho's 30th anniversary celebration, although I wish they had some balls and made it a Jericho/Luther singles match. I had that opinion before the match, and I think it stands after, because Serpentico and Hager were the weak parts of the match. The Luther/Hager sections were clunky (which kind of made the stand and trade look cool and uneven, but other parts less so) and Serpentico is just...not a guy I need to see in a main event. But the Luther/Jericho sections were fun as hell. People laughed when Luther was signed, because obviously it was just a friend getting his buddy a gig. But fuck it, we should get gigs for our friends if we're in a position to do so. Why wouldn't we do that? Luther is in his early 50s and has barely been active as a wrestler for the past 20 years (sheesh I saw him live on an APW show 20 years ago) and he can still clearly go. His cannonball was awesome, dug his big boots, and I liked the way he and Jericho interacted. I've seen nastier Judas Effect elbows, but I dug how Luther dropped to his knees after taking it instead of flat back bumps like everyone else. Fun match, and possibly the only match of the evening that knew what it was supposed to be. 

What Didn't Work

-I wanted a LOT more out of the Cage/Hobbs opener but it fell short. The standing exchanges looked bad, the elbows thrown just looked weak and lacking, the shoulderblocks looked like two guys trying to not hit each other (although I liked Hobbs' late match torpedo shoulderblock), and a lot of this came off like a Lance Storm super heavyweight match. The missed strikes or clotheslines to set up planned offense all came off phony and leading, even if some of the moves they lead to looked good (Hobbs hit a nice powerslam and spinebuster, Cage hit a couple of big drivers that could have landed Hobbs on his head). But the moves didn't mean much to me because of the laziness in setting up literally every move. Almost every piece of offense was set up by a guy missing a slow strike, or a guy slightly overrunning the other and then turning around into a move. Both of these guys are big, but both seem less interested in running into each other and more interested in slightly missing each other to then do a big spot. The big spots looked good. Every single thing gluing those spots together looked bad. 

-We're really on a big moves/no substance roll tonight, and the FTR vs. Evans/Angelico match underwhelmed. Last week was FTR's best AEW performance so far, but they came off like SCU Best Friends or any of the other lesser AEW teams who have their set movesets they're going to work through, and selling is only based on whose turn it is next. Evans and Angelico have been underutilized in AEW, in that I cannot believe some of the flippy goofballs we've seen a ton on TV when they have two of the better flippy goofballs hanging out on Dark. That said, Evans whiffed bad on a flipping legdrop, so bad that there was absolutely no way to cover for it. Dax did his best by immediately grabbing his face, and Excalibur picked up on it and said that Evans' boot hit Harwood in the face, but it is never going to look good when you miss your opponent entirely and then just keep your opponent in position and climb to the top to do another move. That's ugly backyard stuff. A lot of FTR's chain offense looked good, but both teams turned off who was on offense with a switch, so you'd have weird close nearfalls that would lead immediately to the person being pinned going on offense. It was laid out messily, even when it was executed well. 

-Every week they build FTR vs. Young Bucks is a week where the feud seems less interesting. The Bucks are not playing this right, FTR are coming off very miscast as babyfaces (tweeners? men with no alliances?) and Best Friends making hack jokes while winking that they're hack jokes doesn't make the jokes any less hack. 

-Liked the blood, liked Arn's old man spinebuster, liked a couple of the inadvertent falls onto the chain, but did not like the Dog Collar match. They went out and worked a mostly normal match while just so happening to have a chain tied around their necks. There was a lot of time spent on moving the chain out of the way, or adjusting the chain, or making sure they don't hit the chain, and that time needed to just be spent punching each other with the chain. Brodie Lee is also someone who is not great at taking offense anymore. I'm not sure how long that has been going on, but it's something I don't remember being a problem 2-3 years ago. In AEW he takes offense awkwardly and gets into position for offense even more awkwardly. Look how he takes that front suplex (a move he has taken several times in AEW and always takes badly) on his knees, face coming nowhere near the chain it was supposed to be near, and the announcers having to sell it anyway. Moves where he has to bend at the waist are even worse, as he doesn't know to do anything other than make his body a 90 degree angle and freeze. The table piledriver was unfortunate as Brodie's weight went the wrong way, flattening Cody, who then had to go back on offense despite it looking like he had taken the worst of his own move. I liked Cody's dive (doing dives while attached to a chain and another person will always be impressive), but did not like this match. It didn't come off like a violent chain match to me, it came off like a poor Cody/Lee match with them trying to work around the chain as an obstacle. 

-Women's match probably would have made the top side had the finish been a little cleaner. But I don't like those kind of runs where each person knocks the other into the ropes with a strike, which gives them momentum for their own strike, which so on and so on. It looks even worse when the strike gave you momentum to fire back with your own strike, but also you can still stop at will or change directions on rope running. Is the strike moving you, or is it all just terrible. The finish stretch was ugly, with lots of bad thigh slaps, but I liked a lot of the early stuff, liked Serena's leg drags and how she would trap Swole's arm in her leg before rolling over her, but I hate that move begets move nonsense.  

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AEW Dynamite Workrate Report 2/19/20

What Worked

PAS: I think overall the tag battle royal worked although there was almost as much I didn't like as I liked. Jack Evans may be the most underused wrestler around. At least Drew Gulak got the Cruiserweight run and Ohno gets to have matches on NXT UK that no one but me and Eric watch. I can't believe we got a super long Chuck Taylor run and Evans was the first guy out. The lack of heavyweights was really exposed too, the Lucharesu vs. Butcher showdown was the worst big guy face off in battle royal history, weak strikes and whatever the hell that clothesline thing was. I am not a Bucks guy, but I dug the finish run, and our boy Sammy gets the spot of the match (even though he wasn't in the match) absolutely dying flying right into a superkick.

PAS: Got to love Raven buying a ticket and trying to carney his way into a payday. Hustlers hustle.

PAS: I liked Nyla Rose's promo a bunch, had a very Mark Henry feel. "I cut her strings"

PAS: I thought Cobb and Moxley was a bit too New Japanish for me to truly love it, but Cobb is a great addition and will always throw out some amazing stuff, and Mox is a pretty big guy to get chucked the way Cobb will chuck you. I liked the escape finish by Moxley and the post match brawl was great, and I absolutely love how over Darby Allin is now. They turned Darby into Sting which is pretty great.

ER: Man that tag title match was maybe the best version so far of "AEW: The Match". After watching that exhausting and not very satisfying NXT TakeOver this past weekend, I was pretty burned. And these guys - many of whom I don't really like - went out there and felt like they actually purposely started things out slow, until things kept ramping up, famous video game finishers got kicked out of, and they felt like they earned their chants and really had the crowd eating out of their palms. NXT was tiring, 2.5 hours of Mauro screaming at me while the matches sprinted like the derby scene in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? I would have loved to hear Gig Young call this match. I wasn't expecting restraint to start and it really got me onboard early. It was somehow the same thing as NXT, but different and done better. Not everything worked. Pentagon has a habit of leaning out of some things, and some Page offense is still silly and insulting to cowboy gimmicks, but those two also contributed. Page hit a really great moonsault to the floor to cap off a crazy sequence, and Pentagon really can die on things and has a great sense of timing. This really stepped up when Omega and Pentagon had their apron sequence, throwing big chops and playing to the fans, Pentagon hitting a great enziguiri to the face, Omega hitting a V-cutter to cut off Pentagon's catch phrase comedy (I will always cheer someone who does that), and ending with Fenix speedwalking the ropes and booting Omega right in the teeth. Fenix was on something else here, already usually one of the more breathtaking flyers, and here on a good night. His missile dropkicks hit like missiles, that ropewalk kick was spectacular, and he breaks out a tornillo so effortlessly that it makes no sense. We get a couple of too big kickouts, but we didn't get any silly pop up no sells or anything, just unlikely kickouts that still lead to the finish. It was definitely an AEW match, which has been a style that I have spent many weeks now not always enjoying, but I thought this was a standout within the style. Their connection to the crowd really felt like they were taking the match on all of the exact turns the crowd wanted them to take. Yowza Yowza Yowza.

ER: Main event cage match was really well done too. Cody is becoming pretty undeniable in the ring at this point. He's a real main event bleeder, and that's going to stand out in a big way since that's not a thing happening on America's main wrestling stage. Cody really made that cage match feel big. Wardlow has been built up to a degree by AEW having him not wrestle for his entire time there, so debuting as more than muscle in a main event cage came off big. Cody ragdolled well and made all of the big moments feel big. I thought the Arn cage door moment would come off cheesy with MJF making faces in the background, but Arn's timing is still strong and his swing into MJF's face was perfect. They really filmed the cage to make it look 20 feet tall, Made the festivities come off crazier, and Cody's match ending moonsault off the top looked wild shot from below. This capped off probably the strongest hour of AEW TV yet. Awesome showing.


What Didn't Work

PAS: I have no idea why Shanna is always in these really long TV matches that should be squashes. I was amused at Britt Baker fucking with Tony Schiavone and Ross being disgusted with Statlander's Alien bullshit. Statlander is tall and athletic I guess, but I very much don't see it.

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AEW Dynamite Workrate Report 1/29/20

What Worked

-Really enjoyed Young Bucks vs. Butcher and the Blade, especially when we got to the B&B(&B) control. Butcher is also really good at taking offense from both Bucks and making it credible, loved the way he honestly sold their stomach kicks and transition strikes depending on how hard it looked. His big crossbody is a nice spot, he had a couple of really good saves (including a perfectly timed one after a great Nick somersault senton). I'm not sure why Butcher and Blade grew out their hair for the AEW run, but I like the hairline positive attitude. Look how confident they look while stomping out Nick, while Nick shamefully hides behind Brett Michaels Rock of Love accessories.

-Swole should probably drop most of her kick offense (feels like we have a 1 in 3 success rate on those), but there was a lot to like about her match with Nyla Rose. Nyla had a couple nice bumps, Swole's thrust headbutt and her sell afterwards looked great, and the guillotine choke spot is the moment to beat tonight. Strong visual of Swole locking it in while Nyla wound up in a deep squat, powering up a couple of times but not quite, before finally getting fully extended and tossing Swole. Nyla's strength really came through there, awesome moment.

-When you go down to the Honda dealership this weekend, you're gonna want to talk to my guy Arn. He's the top guy there in charge of Fleet sales, total pro. You need a top notch Sales & Leasing Consultant? You talk to Arn.

-Cody did the best he possibly could opposite Sabian, really looked like he was working for two men. He flew hard into the turnbuckles even though Sabian can't even pretend to be doing an Irish whip with any strength behind it, and the impressive thing was Cody's bumps didn't seem disconnected from Sabian's awful offense. The timing was on point and it actually looked like Sabian's nothing strikes were damaging. Has to be tough to make Sabian look formidable, but he did his best.

-I'd actually like it if Britt Baker did more dental related putdowns and insults. My father is a dentist and all through my childhood he had a habit of pointing out dental shortcomings of TV actors. He had strong suspicions that Gillian Anderson did not regularly floss, due to her slightly irritated gumline. I need more Britt Baker calling out the dangers of periodontal disease, and less Britt Baker in a wrestling ring.

-Jack Evans hasn't been on TNT in 3 months, and that needs to change. There have been so many bad Jack Evans on Dynamite, and the actual still great Jack Evans has been slumming it on Dark. You need someone to bump a suplex on the side of their face? You have Jack Evans on your roster. AEW priorities are so bizarre.

-I probably would have rather just seen Darby work the entire main event, but sitting through a match long Private Party crapfest just made Darby's hot tag look even more amazing. His sudden tope on Jericho was so damn good, and in 90 seconds he outclassed Private Party in every single way, hitting all of his spots harder and twice as fast. They really picked the wrong team to sometimes occasionally get behind.


What Didn't Work

-Opening promo came off a little weak to me, neither guy's snaps were really landing, no real update on Moxley's eye (after having it worked on over an entire match a week ago), Ortiz Howard Dean'd the introduction of 5 local Puerto Rican goons, but I thought the pull apart looked good enough and laughed at Moxley mouthing "TEN!?" to the cameras while holding up his fingers.

- I'd say that Kip Sabian should stick to strikes that he can actually pull off, but after this match I think it might be best if he just not use his legs or arms for anything approximating a strike. He threw half a dozen kicks to the stomach that looked almost on par with mid 2000s Torrie Wilson (Edit: 2000s *babyface* Torrie Wilson. Heel Torrie Wilson had better stomach kicks), threw a couple missed clotheslines slowly enough (possible he was parodying the weekly Britt Baker matches, but probably not), just nothing but bad strikes. He took the Cross Rhodes like a champ, and maaaaaaybe Sabian should just be one of those guys who exclusively takes offense. The knee injury was a fun way to spend the commercial break, but we cut fully away to a commercial before we found out if he was faking it or not, and when we came back from break it wasn't referenced again. Odd.

-Can't be a coincidence that the weakest LAX performance in AEW is against Private Party. Private Party are the Young Bucks without the timing, forcing every team to stand around and wait while they hit some convoluted flip that ends with Quen almost touching someone with his feet. LAX looked like goobers having to wait around for stuff to land, looked like it threw off all four of them.

-Jon Moxley should have practiced swinging a bat before going on live TV. Swinging at bat is harder than it looks. Moxley looked like Pedro Cerrano if Cerrano faced nothing but curves.

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Lucha Underground Season 4 Episode 16: Kill Mil

ER: Weekly reminder of just how awful every part of the Antonio Cueto character is.

TL: Oh man. So...you are a show that caters basically exclusively to hardcore fans. You then have MATT STRIKER READ A PREPARED STATEMENT to set up the main even that night? Over a highlight package? I mean...I never thought I'd say this, but Vampiro saying, "You say something? We got things to do!" after that was the best. Thank God for Vampiro. Praise Vampiro.

Jack Evans vs. Matanza

ER: This was pretty silly. I'm not sure what kind of character Evans is working, as he did a bunch of dialed to 10 mic work where he was just yelling annoying sounds and acting like a real goofball. Cool? Then he does a comical Mr. Furley stumbly run up the stairs only to run away from Matanza and get tripped by Antonio Cueto's cane. They're going for Looney Tunes vibes but also very serious Evans-will-leave-The-Temple-in-a-body-bag vibes and it doesn't really work. Evans vs. Matanza is a damn fun pairing, but this isn't that. This is Evans wide eyed running from Matanza, getting tossed a couple times, coming back briefly to hit a fantastic 630...only to see Matanza instantly shrug it off and hit the Tour of the Temple. This could have been a the best possible style clash, instead we had to pretend Jack Evans was suddenly a guy who couldn't wrestle very well.

TL: Jack Evans continues to be awesome on the mic, Antonio Cueto continues to be a terrible caricature in place of an actual good on-screen authority figure. Jack plays up the horror movie vibes better than most by knocking on the door to the entrance ramp only to be out of luck. Jack getting to run around a bit and be evasive only to eventually fall after a valiant effort is at least a good version of this match, but I would have liked a more competitive match between these two because it would have been good to watch. Evans rag dolling for peak Samoa Joe back in the ROH days was fantastic to see; him doing the same for Matanza would have ruled, too. Alas, all this for a cheap pop to hear Antonio warble about human sacrifice. I mean, literally seven months ago on WM weekend, a dude has his throat slit on stage during the absolutely terrible Blackcraft show. If you're gonna kill someone on a wrestling show, at least make it campy as fuck.

XO Lishus/Ivelisse/Joey Ryan vs. Jeremiah Snake/Daga/Kobra Moon

ER: This was rough in just about every way. Sloppy as hell, not a lot of build, just a mess of a match. Xo Lishus was probably the lone highlight; I love the snap he gets on things like armdrags, and really I just love the snap he puts on everything. Ivelisse has one of the more embarrassing hot tags of recent memory and later hits a slow motion cannonball off the apron. Daga even trips on the ropes getting into the ring. Striker calls Jeremiah Snake "this generation's most controversial athlete", which does sound much more intriguing than "some guy that a lot of people wish would just go away because they don't dig his fucking vibe" which is the reality. This was as skippable as it gets.

TL: Killer Kross as the White Rabbit is a good fit for the promotion; hope he calls out Big Dave in a knock off Tower of Doom match by season's end. The match itself was basically a mid-tier trios pairing with folks thinking up "creative" spots only for them to not land clean. XO probably looked the best in the match, Joey's shtick continues to be tired, Crane's descent to complete irrelevance continues. Daga with a weird Toryumon double arm-bar to finish. Kross and London stand idly by for the most part while Bunny gets the offense post-match, and I'm baffled again. This fed, folks.

Nunchuck Match: Aerostar/Drago vs. Jake Strong

ER: I'm a big fan of stupid stips matches, and a 2 on 1 handicap nunchucks match would certainly qualify as stupid, but Strong isn't a good enough stooge to make the nunchucks portion of this match interesting. We get the fun visual of actual nunchuck retrieval at the top of the Temple steps. At one point Aerostar and Drago pose as two children trying to sneak into an R rated movie wearing a very long trenchcoat, beating Jake with nunchucks. But Strong just kind of stands there and takes a dozen nunchuck shots, like he couldn't go anywhere. Every other time he took nunchuck shots he would just awkwardly bend over to take them, just poking his butt out. To put over a nunchuck shot you really need that scaled dog reaction, needs some hopping, some yelping, some fleeing; Ol' Jake Strong just behaved like he was in a very specific BDSM video. There were individual great moments, like Strong's vicious gutwrench powerbomb, or Aerostar's no hands springboard splash, but this didn't work as well as it could have.

TL: NUNCHUKS MATCH. I need Sleazy E out here in an exhibition at least. Jake Strong being treated as a top guy in AEW right now is still absolutely baffling to me (and he hasn't even wrestled a match!!!) but he's been at least a little bit entertaining taking on all the low-tier juniors, which should prepare him well for AEW. It's at least something that uses the gimmick well, even if the gimmick itself is terrible. The crowd chants "This is awesome!" for some reason, possibly the nadir of the chant, or maybe they're in on the joke. But let's point out what these guys did in their seven minutes: They had huge bumps, they laid shit in, and they went out there to maximize an absolutely limiting gimmick. I'm writing this match up as it happens, not after the fact, and this is actually becoming one of the great shitty gimmick matches LU has ever done. The finish was awesome stuff. They also 100% went early on the bone break sound effect. I am going to look back on this fondly as one of the great examples of everything both bad and good about LU: The gimmick is terrible, the entire setup is basically shit. But guys went out there and killed it, did everything they could to maximize what they were given, and somehow, someway, production values made it look not nearly as good as it could have. I can't think of a single 15-minute segment in any LU show that captures all that. Amazing stuff.

Mil Muertes vs. King Cuerno vs. Dragon Azteca Jr. vs. Pentagon Dark

ER: This didn't add up to a ton, made everyone except Pentagon feel super marginalized, which is a repeat trend for PPP. We also got some more Fenix coming out to assault Melissa Santos, which is great because then he will still wrestle the same way and get cheered for his cool spots, so what is actually the point of doing that kind of storyline? It does lead to our no close second greatest part of the match, when Dragon Azteca hits an incredible tope con giro over the ringpost, crashing both of them into the announce table. Awesome, awesome spot. I have to assume the rest of this was mangled by hasty editing, because the only other option was that it was mangled by foolish match layout: Cuerno hit his big tope into Pentagon and Muertes, except Pentagon was back up to the apron as quickly as Cuerno, only for both of them to be hit by a Muertes spear to knock them off the apron. So either Pentagon sold a Cuerno tope - treated like a major move for much of the series - by immediately leaping up to the apron, while Muertes sold it by running to the other side of the Temple to get in the ring for his spear...or the editing was so trash that it just made the wrestlers look like trash. Neither is a good look.

TL: Things I knew were going to happen before this match started: Muertes was gonna rule ass for a few minutes, Penta was definitely going to be on the outside in a 4-way match when you shouldn't have any downtime due to the fact everyone can at least face someone, Cuerno was gonna hit his tope, Dragon was gonna out-effort everyone. AND THEN HE DOES THAT CORNER DIVE. HOLY SHIT. It's weird to think a match like this is so methodically paced, but that's LU for you. Willie Mack coming back to cost Mil the match was a cool twist. And then of course Penta wins. Muertes taking the fall was surprising but I guess if they're pairing folks off, Mack/Muertes in a deathmatch should be fun, at least. Match was 100% a mean multi-man LU match. Like Eric said: Production here was really off again, selling was off all around. Again, I feel like there's just a lot of things that are supposedly creative but done in a way that doesn't play to anyone's strengths. It used to be the hallmark of this show but now it seems like that's all gone by the wayside. Really rough to see at this point. Azteca/Fenix has a chance to be good, Mack/Muertes could be a defining match for two guys I thoroughly enjoyed in this fed, and Penta somehow ending up the last LU champ will be fitting in a way because they really had nobody else to go to, it seems. Maybe they'll still surprise me. Who knows.



COMPLETE GUIDE TO LUCHA UNDERGROUND

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AEW Dynamite Workrate Report 10/30/19

What Worked:

-The non-wrestling stuff in this show worked for me. I thought the Tony Schiavone limo ride with Cody was great old school stuff. The Dusty and Willie Nelson story was great and the whole presentation made the contract signing seem like a big deal. Jericho is pretty great as a bloated creep leading a pack of wolves, heel Rock of Love era Brett Michaels is a great fucking gimmick, I can just see him faking an OD mid ring only to roll up his opponent when he tries CPR. Dustin's broken arm is a great way to heat up the PPV main event, although that might mean we don't see in ring Dustin for a while, and this show could desperately use him.

-Similarly Santana and Ortiz beating down the Rock and Roll Express was simple pro-wrestling storytelling. Ricky Morton is an all timer at taking a beating and Santana and Ortiz are really great as out of control thugs, you can tell they are from that JAPW family tree (speaking of which, sign Homicide and Eddie Kingston already AEW, what are you waiting for). I liked them jumping the Bucks too, nice use of the Rick and Morty gimmick which actually gave that goofy thing some purpose.

- Moxley's promo was fine, and he is undoubtedly over. I miss the old Moxley promos where he was talking about his mom turning tricks where he came off like a real unhinged psycho, but he is clearly in a different place in his career. Don't love Tony Khan showing up as an on air character. AEW should stay far away from Authority Figure angles, it has been a stain on wrestling for two decades now, and no one is ever going to approach Vince as a performer. If you need a Jack Tunney for an angle, give it to Arn or Bob Armstrong or something and just have them make pronouncements and don't have them do anything else.

-The six man tag was the best of the car crash matches on this show. It isn't really my thing, but the Bucks have clearly mastered that formula, and Jack Evans is still breathtaking to watch. If they did one of these matches a show it would work great, unfortunately that isn't what is going on.

What Didn't Work:

-God, is the ringwork on this show one note. Every match is worked at the same pace, with the same headdrops, 2.9 counts, dives and near falls. They need some fat guys, some mat workers, a couple of guys with good punches, anything to break this up.

-Why is Adam Page doing flips and dives? Isn't he your tough Cowboy character? A lariat does not need a fucking front flip. I liked Sammy faking a dive and instead slapping Page, but outside of that this was just white noise

-Why does your undercard women's match go 15 minutes with the same dramatic near falls as every other match. Is Shanna even part of the roster? If you have plans for Shida, why is her debut undercard squash worked like a main event title match. Outside of a couple of nice knees by Shida (and there were a bunch that looked bad too) the work didn't particularly move me, and there needs to be an agent telling people that they can't use up all of the tricks in every match.

-Why in god's name does your comedy squash have an insane headdrop finish? If your comedy guys are doing moves that look like they should lead to a stretcher job and six month hiatus what does that mean for your main eventers? Just insane escalation which is going to lead to someone breaking their neck trying to outdo the undercard. On the plus side, I think they may have tweaked the Orange Cassidy character enough to make it work for me, having those kicks be a taunt as opposed to something their opponent has to play along with, makes a big difference. The hands in the pocket tope stands out in a show with dozens of crazy dives. Shoot the Best Friends into the sun though.

- Fenix is really special to watch, on a show where everyone is working as some variation of his style, he still outshines them. I almost feel sorry for Kazarian and Scorpio, those guys are old, and they are still trying to work a gogo highspot style. Cut off the ring or something. No wonder Kazarian almost broke his neck on that rana to the floor, Vince Carter isn't still trying to thunder dunk every time he gets the ball. You guys are almost 40, work on a midrange jumper.

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AEW Double or Nothing 5/25/19

This wasn't a show I was particularly excited about. I imagine we are low voters on a bunch of the guys on this show, but Dustin Rhodes is an all time favorite, and the show is a big deal for sure.

Christopher Daniels/Scorpio Sky/Frankie Kazarian vs. T-Hawk/El Linderman/CIMA

PAS: This was what you would expect for a opening six man tag. I hadn't seen the SCU team in years and they seem to have kept all of their athleticism, pretty impressive that old man Daniels can still look so smooth, although smoothness isn't something I care a ton about. Strong Hearts was fine, I liked Hawk's chops and Linderman's deadlift German suplexes, but if you are going to bring in OWE guys, they really should have bought in the crazy Chinese Shaolin Monks rather then just second tier Dragons Gate guys. Fine but ultimately forgettable.

Dr. Britt Baker DMD vs. Kylie Rae vs. Nyla Rose vs. Awesome Kong

PAS: This was pretty bad and way too long. Awesome Kong was a cool surprise, but didn't look ready for in ring work and spent most of the match hanging outside. Rae doing her Gillberg version of Bayley was probably the most bush league thing on this show (either that or Cody's sledgehammer stuff). I am not sure there are enough non-WWE women to make a real division, this wasn't a good start, and I am not interested in seeing any of these ladies again.

Best Friends vs. Angelico/Jack Evans

PAS: I think it is a mistake for a fed basically main evented by the Young Bucks to have so many B-Team Bucks running around: SCU, both these teams, Lucha Brothers, Super Smash Brothers. They really need some teams who don't work the same style. You can't have 10 versions of the Rockers, you need a Twin Towers or Demolition. This is my semi-annual attempt to watch a Chuck Taylor match and get it, and I still don't. He hits some spots OK, but there are parts where he can't run the ropes and his forearms and kicks look terrible. Trent was mechanically fine, if uninteresting. Angelico is still Angelico, some of his stuff looks cool, the double teams with Evans are nifty, and then he throws a punch. Evans is still awesome, his body is made of jello, and he flips like crazy. His moonsault to the floor was one of the crazier spots of the night. Didn't care for this, it was a worse version of Bucks vs. Lucha Brothers and I didn't love that either.

Aja Kong/Yuka Sakazaki/Emi Sakura vs. Hikaru Shida/Riho/Ryo Mizunami

PAS: This was a fun showcase for all six ladies. Everyone got a chance to run through their stuff, and a lot of it looked pretty good. Sakazaki's magical girl shtick is pretty creepy, there already is a pervert constituency among Joshi fans and that seems to lean way into it. Aja is still a beast and definitely stood out, I especially liked any time she faced off with Mizunami, as I am always going to dig a big gal punch out. Shida got the big with with the knee, and I think a version of her 2018 singles with Aja would get over pretty big.

Dustin Rhodes vs. Cody

PAS: Opening part of this match was just OK, Cody doesn't really have good looking offense and some of the spots felt more cute then impactful. I loved the set up for the Dustin blade job, with Dustin setting up the nut kick, Cody removing the second turnbuckle to block it, and and Cody drop toe holding Dustin into the exposed buckle. That Dustin blade job was an all timer, it looked liked Strawberry Fanta was coming out of a fountain soda machine. I liked Cody's knuckle punches to the cut, and the figure four spot was really well executed. The punch exchange at the end of the match actually felt like a fist fight between brothers, and I loved the Code Red. I thought the ending was a bit anti-climactic, but man what a performance by Dustin. It was all bleeding, selling and emotion. It is up there with some of the best last ride, old man matches I have ever seen, and last ride old man matches are some of my favorite types.

Young Bucks vs. Lucha Brothers

PAS: Pretty much what you would expect, there were a couple of nice storyline moments, with the Bucks being a little rusty due to their long layoff, and the very end of the match with the work on Matt's arm. Still most of the match was running through a million headdrop finishers for 2.9 counts. Fenix had a couple of amazing moments of high flying, including a rope trick on both Bucks which looked great. But this was everything turned up to 10, and my eyes eventually just glassed over with the nearfalls. This kind of match is clearly going to be a showcase for this promotion, and I think it will keep me from really investing in it.

Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho

PAS: I wasn't coming into this match expecting to like it, and ended up kind of loving it. Omega is pretty much a poster boy for maximalist wrestling, but this was a match built around two guys stiffing each other with shots to the face and head. There were a couple of big spots which were done really well and sold really well, the double stomp with the table was kidney mushing, and I liked the surprise of Omega getting backdropped through the table. I loved how Jericho took all of his normally loose 2000s offense and made it eye socket crunching, those code breakers looked like they were going to shove Omega's cheekbone through his teeth. The broken nose really added to the match too, and Omega sold the shots like Gerald McClellan, it felt like we were watching him get beaten to death in the ring. Really liked the back elbow KO finish too, great performance by both guys, and one of the most surprising matches in years.

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Lucha Underground Season 4 Episode 12: Til Death Do Us Part

ER: What a great return Joey Wrestling made to my television. Mercury shows up out of nowhere and Ricky Mundo immediately gets shunted down to ring bearer, complete with pie face and fart sound from Mercury. This is probably the hardest I've laughed at anything in LU's history. So this episode is already a major win.

TL: Seeing Eric’s review come over, I thought Joey Wrestling was some new not-cool Joey Ryan nickname, and then I realize it’s JOEY MERCURY, and now I need an MNM reunion. I don’t know if Eric has it in him for yet another Complete and Accurate, but MNM was one of the best tag teams nobody ever talks about and I feel like they would hold up incredibly well in a world where the Revival is considered a top tier tag team. Them vs. the Usos. New Day. The Bar. Damn. Let’s go! Also, anytime you get the Bill & Ted air guitar sound effect, you get a thumbs up from me.

ER: Loved MNM, but any MNM C&A will have to come after my Destruction Crew/Beverly Brothers C&A. That is not a joke.

Jake Strong vs. Drago

ER: This wasn't as good as the rest of the glut of short Strong/Hager matches we've gotten lately, didn't feel as stiff as the best of his MLW ones, and felt slower paced too. There was cool stuff, like a big rotating powerslam from Strong, and him catching Drago off a springboard and carrying him around the ring, working him into position for another powerslam only to eat a big DDT from Drago. The best moment was Drago taking a huge backdrop bump into one of the risers filled, fans vacated from their seats so he took a big crushing bump through the open wooden chairs. But Drago kinda got steamrolled here, and he didn't do himself any favors with his fairly weak looking strikes throughout.

TL: Wait, did Striker just call Drago “The Living Legend?” Seriously? Like, you didn’t want to think about that for a minute? This needed to have more snap to it. There was a kick where Drago didn’t even get enough air to whiff on it before the sound effect came in. I don’t get why Strong didn’t try to just end this quickly, and even Striker points it out. This seems like they were told to fill a certain amount of time and that was the best they could come up with. Okay, seriously, none of Drago’s shots are hitting here, making the sound effects come off as absolutely subpar. I agree about the spots themselves, but there wasn’t a thing between them that made me care. Really odd use six minutes.

Jack Evans vs. XO Lishus

ER: This is a No Mas match, for reasons, and outside of some dumb interference this was really fun, and more showcase for Lishus. We know what Evans brings, and it's good. He hits hard, stooges more athletically than anybody, hit a big crash landing balcony dive, big flying knee off the apron, and really put over Lishus. And Lishus more than held up his end of the spotlight. He bumps big including a couple boss bumps on the floor and into the ringside chairs, and he utilizes his sass and athleticism really well in matches. He flies really well and lands with a thud, has nice offense like his cool cartwheel double knee drop, dig his spin kicks, the whole thing works. The Joey Ryan/Ivelisse run in was pointless and added nothing, but these two were bright enough that it didn't matter.

TL: Now Jack is out here calling himself a legend and I feel like we just need to retire the use of the word at this point. Like how this started with XO going right after Jack, and then Jack gets in control and hits a totally nuts 450 off the apron. XO ends up on Striker’s lap. This is at least entertaining between the big spots, which really shows up after the previous match. Jack hits a nutso flip dive off a ladder, too, just to remind you he’s still capable of leaping off things from great heights even 15 years after that ridiculous dive off the top of the cage in ROH. XO’s LeBell Lock wasn’t that tight, and I laughed at Vampiro saying XO should have fish hooked. The trading of submissions down the stretch were fun, even if there was some sloppiness, as I had to like them going for stuff in an I Quit match. Joey Ryan then comes out to do his Omega/Kota Ibushi spot with Evans (watch the Ibushi/Styles IWGP title match for the reference), which leads to XO getting a submission with a cross-armbreaker. I probably wrote too many words for this match. You’re here for the content anyways.

TL: Awww, I wanted Jack to be in the wedding. At least we got another air guitar!

ER: The Wedding of the Century was fine. There were some funny lines, a couple funny deliveries, and naturally the wedding cake did not get eaten. But there was a lot of bad, with some majorly over-produced (over-mic'd? over-scripted? All of those?) Brenda just delivering bad, screechy material over everything (it's gotta be terrible as a performer to go out there with knowingly bad material), and a nonsensical ending that had Ricky Mundo unchain Matanza, and Matanza destroy everybody in the ring. But that's really silly as we already saw Matanza get beaten fairly easily by a chubby Vampiro mentee this season, so I'm unsure why half a dozen members of the Worldwide Underground (Cheerleader Melissa included) couldn't work him over with ease. But now that Matanza has beaten Cortez Castro and Vinny Massaro I guess he's an unstoppable monster again? Pretty lame.

TL: Love the lime green motif. Cool cake topper. Cheerleader Melissa up in this!!!! Alright, I’m all about it. Johnny not needing written vows because he went to the Titan acting classes is fantastic. I wasn’t expecting much here, but Dario ringing the bell only to deliver tacos instead of Matanza was a nice touch. Brenda was gratingly bad here. The Matanza run in was at least fun, Taya getting color was an interesting twist, but Matanza did seem like a plug and play thing here. This would have been the spot for a debut or something along those lines, but it getting back to Ricky letting Matanza out isn’t gonna lead to anything worthwhile until the two probably face off at Ultima Lucha. Even though I didn’t expect much, I also didn’t get much here, so it’s a wash. Predictable angle ends predictably.

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Lucha Underground Season 4 Episode 9: A Match Made in Heaven

ER: This may be an odd question...but was that actually Melissa playing Mariposa in the opening segment with Cueto? Her voice sounded completely different from how I remember her sounding (not merely the absence of her minor speech impediment, her voice just sounded different), and the mask covers enough that I actually have no idea.

TL: Was that…a competent set up for the main event? Like, did they actually lay out the consequences in a cogent manner for us to understand? Wild, man.

Mala Suerte vs. Matanza

ER: So now we've established bunny hop "boings" and speed bags SFX to our LU SFX canon. This was short but nobody died. Suerte hit a great baseball slide dropkick to start, Matanza hit a nice headbutt to cut off bunny hops and hit the Wrath of the Gods. But again, nobody died, which seems important to point out now.

TL: I literally cannot add anything to what Eric said about this match when those SFX were involved. Peak pro wrestling production, that.

Joey Ryan/Jack Evans vs. XO Lishus/Ivelisse

ER: I really liked this, especially as a showcase for Evans and Lishus. I wasn't excited for Joey opposite another woman, but I liked the turn into Joey being a full blown sex addict, just wanting any kind of touch and contact with any human (at minimum, any human). I think him being into getting slammed into XO Lishus' juicy hot ass and liking it is an important thing to happen. Sex addict is far more interesting than overt pervert. Lishus is a ton of fun, a great take on an exotico. The splits legdrop is good, and I also realized with his outfit, butt stuff, splits...he's basically cosplaying as Naomi. That feels like a level of exotico we haven't had in wrestling, an actual drag routine paying tribute to a fan favorite. The cartwheel slap is great with the character, and there was a hilarious moment with he and Evans, where Lishus ducked a clothesline and landed in a crabwalk, Evans overran him with the miss, ran back, but was chased into the corner with a quick burst of crabwalking from Lishus. Evans played it great, the timing was down, a genuinely funny and unique moment played perfectly. They went way too heavy on SFX for Ivelisse, she had a couple weak shots that came off comical with the loud thigh slap sound, but stuff like armdrags and ranas looked fine and she ate Ryan's offense well. Evans is still finding his place without WU, and I hope he's featured more from here now that he's away from WU. But he and Lishus owned here.

TL: I want to be a part of the conversations Joey has had with other folks to try and figure out how he could evolve his character. As Eric said, the climb from pervert to sex addict seems like the natural next step for him and who better to bring it out of him than Lishus, who has the athleticism that makes it look like he can hang with Jack F’n Evans step for step. Evans’ athleticism never ceases to amaze me; his springboard moves look out of control but also look like they kill folks. Yeah, the Lishus/Evans stuff was terrific, which led to the absolutely disgusting finish with the omoplata that really looked like a chokeout as opposed to all the other loosely applied MMA finishes you’d see in wrestling today. Stoked to see this get a longer feud, too. Ryan and Ivelisse were definitely in this match.

Mariposa vs. Dragon Azteca Jr.

ER: This was so short and really a nothing match. It was presented as an obstacle for Azteca but he didn't have too much trouble with Mariposa. It's a Lucha Underground update on an old early 90s Wrestling Challenge squash match. In one of those matches the enhancement talent would maybe get a dropkick or a couple elbows that get no sold. In a Lucha Underground squash match the enhancement talent still gets to break out a Kudo Driver moments after taking a huge 450 splash. The times they are a changin'.

TL: Love the foul to start the match during the belt presentation, love the kick to the inside of the thigh even more. Also love how in 2018, a 450 splash and a fucking KUDO DRIVER get 2.9s, but crossing the legs on a rolling prawn hold? Can’t get out of that, no siree. But hey, I’ve never wrestled before, so I don’t understand psychology, I guess.

The Reptile Tribe vs. Worldwide Underground

ER: So Striker says that Vibora is "striking in his absence" meaning nobody else knows about Vibora's death, but you'd think his absence would be focused on a lot more if that was the case. Instead they're just immediately cool with lizard Jeremiah Crane being the replacement. Also, could we have maybe done a little better than Jeremiah Snake? Here are a few off the top of my head with similar vocal patterns: Jereboa Crane, Jereviper Crane, Jereconda Crane. They aren't rhymes, but the syntax is the same as his original name and they roll off the tongue similarly. Or, they could have embraced their ridiculous side and further have their cake and eat it too, and he could have been Janaconda Cobrane. Also, I like that even in a rare 4 on 4 match, Ricky Mandel still isn't good enough to make the cut. I want them do have a 10 man tag to see if he has a shot at getting some playing time.

And I really liked this match. It was the right amount of fun and action, and really the fed should run more 8 man tags. I've gotten tired of their go to singles match style, but throw any 8 people from the roster in a ring and they should all have enough material to work a fun 10 minute match. You get less reliance on kickouts and more reliance on saves at that point, and a well timed save is more exciting to me than a big kickout. We get a ton of big dives, some complicated (like Kobra Moon getting launched into everyone by Jeremiah) and a couple impressive Aerostar ones, and a huge cannonball into everyone by Jeremiah. The pacing was kept brisk, and the whole thing was kept light which is a good thing because serious matches typically feature Striker reading a bunch of lousy copy about the Fates of Worlds and the Calamity of Man. The post-match worked for me too, even though the Macho Man stuff was all really obvious, I loved the Pomp and Circumstance playing while Mundo had Taya up on his shoulder. Taya's reaction to the proposal was good and as I've been wondering the past couple weeks this surely throws WU into full babyface, which isn't a bad twist. I somehow didn't notice the relevance of the episode title, which now seems like it should be saved for the inevitable wedding episode of LU, and I also somehow foolishly never considered a wedding episode for LU. We're well over 100 episodes at this point, and if we actually want to pretend that this is an actual TV series and not wrestling, then we're already into syndication and we're overdue for a wedding and a baby. We've already gotten to the point of the show where it's consistently going downhill from its peak, so now we need a couple of classic ratings poppers!

TL: The graphic leading into this match looks like it was made for an ECW TV main event in 1997, which is terrific. Big wet fart for the return of Crane as part of the Reptile Tribe. Don’t care enough to even make fun of the name. Aerostar wearing the bandana over his mask is as goofy looking as Klay Thompson wearing the bandana during his 14 3-pointer game last week, which means I love it. Vibora had been getting better so I’m a bit sad he’s not a part of this, because this seems like the type of match where he’d really stand out.

More wild atomicos match than I would have thought with this set up, as I figured there would be more pairing off than a whole bunch of dives, but they wanted a frenetic pace from the start. PJ Black’s hot tag that began with a bunch of first week training offense after the springboard was amusing. Nothing like armdrags and shoulder blocks to fire things up. The more I hear “Jeremiah Snake” the more I cringe. He also gets a lot of the match here, which is disappointing. Would have loved to see more Moon and Drago, especially considering Aerostar was brought in specifically because of his past with Drago. Instead, Drago gets to watch Aerostar hit his second ridiculous dive of the match and then take the fall. Postmatch was actually cool for the fakeout, Johnny being magnanimous, and the two-bit Savage aping. It was ELIZABETH who did the “Ooooohh yeah” part, man. C’mon. I’m not sure what wedding day shenanigans will occur to hold it up before it actually happens, but I’ve been entertained by WU skits to the point where I’d at least enjoy it. Can’t remember too many happy RobRod movie marriages, but maybe they’ll make an exception here.

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Lucha Underground Season 4 Episode 3: Rest in Pieces

ER: I don't have much use for Ricky making derpy evil faces with his doll (come on, creepy dolls? We can dig deeper than that, right?) but I thought everybody else's comedy reads were good, much better than I was expecting. Johnny himself had great timing and hit all the beats he was supposed to, with Taya being good with reaction faces (and the dark lipstick is a cool choice). "Has anyone seen Angelico around? I owe him a beating."

TL: My favorite video game series of all time is Xenoblade Chronicles, where the monsters you face are basically just giant versions of animals you’d find in real life. The second game that came out last year has giant spiders and snakes in it (both animals I’m deathly afraid of), and if I get bored driving back on my commute from work and stare at the hills while waiting in traffic, I half expect to see giant animals come over the hillside and make a beeline for the cars. This is also why “Giant Spider Invasion” is my favorite MST3K episode by far. Feel like me visualizing this stuff helps me face my fears.

What I’m trying to say is that Jack Evans’ fear of snakes leading him to make a colonic appointment excuse trying to get out of a match is totally something I understand. Ricky’s replacement-level Al Snow circa 1999 faces can leave, though.

Jack Evans vs. XO Lishus

ER: I had never heard nor seen Lishus before this, but thought he had a great debut. It was a really long showcase (longer than most debuting guys) and Evans is a good stooge for this kind of routine. Lishus clearly has a dance background and I like how he integrated it, taking a splits bump, a really impressive Matrix bridge, his crazy leg split finisher off the top, and big bumps. He and Jack are both athletic bumpers with impressive body control, though Jack is better at making them come off more reckless. I liked Lishus' dive, although for an exotico he needs to work more stiff. Both guys had amusing handsprings, with Lishus hitting a big slap at the end of his and Evans landing a eye rake. This was plenty fun, surprised they had Lishus go over so strong, but this kind of debut is infinitely more interesting than Mr. Pectacular or Jake Strong.

TL: Yeah, for as much crap as we give LU on a regular basis, they’re the only semi-major fed in the US that would book an exotico on the regular, let alone even hear of one, so it’s cool to see XO get a shot here. The athleticism was a blast to watch, and Jack’s bendy selling and nutty bumping really helped put some of the more athletic stuff over even more. The split-based offense is tremendous, and he’s the only guy I’ve seen make an X-Factor look actually hurty, so a lot of props here for XO. Now go give Effy a shot, LU. Also, Jack Evans’ shit-talking is hilarious coming from a guy his size, and I always enjoy how a guy who should be out of wrestling due to his risk-taking and bumping has somehow found a way to elongate his career by being a shit-talking semi-comedic rudo.

ER: Oof that Pentagon/Cage segment was lame. Pentagon cuts a promo that sounds like bullet points for a promo, like they planned on fleshing it out later but forgot so Pentagon was left with his catch phrase and "I'm gonna defend my title, and keep winning". I like Cage but he was tanked by awful Striker/Vampiro reads here. Cage pulls a table out from under the ring, starts setting it up, and Vampiro (sounding like he was dryly added in post) says, "Wait...what is Cage doing?" Striker says "How can Pentagon break someone who is not man, but machine!?" And then moments later Cage on the mic says almost the exact same thing. Yeah, Pentagon got put through a table, but what a half asleep segment.

TL: Bullet points in a promo, you say? Sounds like Penta is ready for the writing of the award-winning World Wrestling Federation. I know Penta is being booked as being nigh unstoppable, but Cage jumping someone from behind doesn’t make a lot of sense considering how he’s been booked. I mean, Penta just ran through Matanza and the rest of the roster in Aztec Warfare. Cage putting him through a table isn’t exactly something that’s gonna make me salivate for a match between the two of them. Another instance of weird LU booking.

Grave Consequences 3 Way to the Grave: Mil Muertes vs: Jeremiah Crane vs. Fenix

ER: Plenty of violence and plenty of bullshit, which really would make this a pretty great fed if they consistently delivered on those things, and also greatly depends on the quality of the latter of those two things. This one went on too long and had a finishing stretch I didn't like, but there was so much violence, a spirited Fenix performance, and a monster Muertes performance, enough that I gotta call it an easy win. The whole thing likely would have been better if they just did any combination of these guys in a one on one Grave Consequences match, but I thought the three did a good job of keeping the action moving. There were some nasty spills in this one, with everyone seeing who could take a meaner fall into their respective casket lids (Crane took an especially rough one on the floor). Muertes' big right hands were easily worth the price of admission, so many of his great overhand rights that really look like they should have broken Fenix's face, and the shot of him ripping at Fenix's mask while punching his bloody face from above was fantastic. Crane and Fenix brought plenty of nice kicks, Crane flew threw chairs (no shock), and we also had plenty of silliness. Ivelisse came back with bright red hair like Eva Marie (the camera showed her running from behind and I actually thought it *was* Eva Marie, which would have been hilarious), so since she's borrowing the look I assume her new name is Eva Lease. Her interference was quick and got Crane out of there, and there was a nicely done finger break spot, and not long after we get Fenix crashing off the top basically through Crane. The end run wasn't very interesting as it turned into a big moves trade off between Fenix and Muertes, and while all the moves looked good it got annoying seeing Fenix take a huge slam that caved in a coffin, and just get back up and start springing off ropes again. Although it must be said, Fenix's rope work in the match was pretty breathtaking. So while overly long, the match definitely delivered overall, and was one of my favorite Muertes performances. An easy win, and the first genuinely good episode of the season.

TL: Even with Sami’s presence in this match, Mil and Fenix kill it in these matches (their match back in Season 1 was one of my favorite LU matches ever; Mil/Matanza might have been even better) so I’m all about it. Just watching Fenix find new ways to fly (the plancha off the roof of the refrigeration room) and Muertes’ nutty violence (love me an elevator door slam like he’s in a damn Looney Tunes ep) makes this worth watching, even if there’s some flubs with vaulting and other awkward three-way spots. Sami is always at his best taking a beating and he bumps huge here on a few things, including a powerbomb on a coffin and a ridiculous bump off a Mil spear on the outside. The Ivellise stuff was at least well done, even if Ivellise’s hammer was obviously a fake with the head actually breaking off and took away from it a bit. I also can’t top Eva Lease.

The remainder of the match is Mil whooping up on Fenix using the bottom turnbuckle and then absolutely pasting him with some AWESOME right hands (as if we need yet another thing to add to the list of things Mil does well). After an awkward staredown on the outside with Mil, I actually loved Melissa as a second getting the crowd into it as they’ve been a bit tired during this match and weren’t popping for a lot. Fenix taking that belly-to-belly into the casket was disgusting, but he’s named Fenix so he’s back doing his ultra-athletic offense and taking another crazy bump with that chokeslam on the casket. It probably did go a little long, but there was a lot more good than bad here, and while it’s not in the top level of Grave Consequences matches, it’s very good stuff.

Because it’s on the mind, Muertes seems like a guy who is continuously underrated at large, even with two of the greatest lucha brawls of all time with LA Park and maybe the best Abyss match ever in TNA, along with his unbelievable LU brawls (and for me, perhaps the best squash match TV worker going right now). I don’t know what to make of his standing in the grand wrestling pantheon, but he’s carved out a hell of a career in a way that really nobody like him ever has. The more I see him, the more I’m realizing how great he’s been for a long, long time; he has constantly reinvented himself either as Judas or Mesias or Muertes in multiple territories in multiple countries and hasn’t really lost a step at all. It’s remarkable when you step back and look at what he’s done, and even though this isn’t perhaps the shining moment of his LU career, a match like this is so much better than so many other wrestlers’ best matches that it’s easy to forget how good he’s been. His stuff does not go unnoticed with me.

TL: Of course, we get some Striker biblical bullshit to sign us off before seeing Matanza chained up like Eren Yeager (and, I’m guessing due to the magic of Lasik, two good eyes for Antonio - must be good medical insurance at The Temple) before busting loose and breaking Dario’s key. I don’t know what the upping of the whimsical stuff does to my enjoyment of the show (more a fan of kitsch than the actual hard magical being stuff), but if Catrina is bringing herself back due to Fenix, can she bring Lorenzo Lamas back, too, at least? Maybe Antonio found his eye and that’s why he’s got two good eyes right now? At least I’m trying to connect the dots here.


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Matches from JAPW Halloween Hell 10/30/04

This show showed up on my internet, and it has a bunch of C+A guys in matches, and a opening salvo for my mini Homicide vs. Teddy Hart RIVALS C+A

H Effect (Dixie/Deranged) vs. The Solution (Havok/Papadon) - GREAT

ER: This is pretty much exactly the 7 minutes you would want out of these two teams. Solution are better than you remembered them being, like a more generous High Voltage. Havok is the slightly larger of the two and had a big fallaway slam, spinebuster, a couple big throws, but would also sell. Papadon dropped elbows and a nice kneedrop, and was also game to take Deranged's big flipping kicks. H Effect had such great energy and it's fun to watch them against a team that easily could have opted to steamroll them. Deranged really is deranged, flying to the floor with a freaking 450 legdrop while Dixie is also diving out onto a target right next to his. Dixie was so special because he was a great flyer and a great junior, but didn't skimp on things you usually don't expect from juniors. At the bell H Effect gets jumped and Dixie is immediately firing back with these great punches from his knees. Nobody pays any attention to making their punches from the knees, or elbows to the gut out of a headlock, look good. Dixie does. It makes his hot tags even better, as he comes in with his big speed but isn't just hitting weak flying forearms while pinballing between Solution, he's coming in throwing great punches. The finish is great as Deranged gets caught doing a rana off the apron to the floor, and eats a powerbomb into the ringpost, then gets tossed in the ring for a Blockbuster Doomsday Device. That's a finish and since it's Deranged of course he takes it as vertically as possible. But Dixie straight up almost died post match. The Solution bring in a chair and set it up, and give Dixie a tombstone onto the set up chair, starting with Papadon standing on top of the chair. So you had him jumping off the chair while dropping Dixie headfirst onto the chair, just looked insane and also looked like an incredibly stupid idea. Dixie never seemed like a guy to turn down a bad idea though, and it's why we love him.

PAS: I remember Havok being really fun in the Hard Hitters tag team with Monsta Mack, and he is really good here too big spinebuster and great looking diving elbows he looks like he is caving in Dixies chest, he seems like a lost big boy wrester of the 2000s. Dixie and Deranged are perfect pinballs for muscled up gym rats, the bump insanely and have some big spots, the Deranged flipping legdrop dive was great looking, and Dixie has such great execution on simple spots. The double team block buster and tombstone on the chair were both certifiable bumps. I could watch H Effect gets mauled everyday.

Low-Ki vs. CM Punk - GREAT

PAS: This was a nifty match which basically served to highlight Ki's shift from respectful martial arts Ki, to Strong Style Thug Ki. I am a big fan of heel Low-Ki and he was in full fuck you mode in this match, flipping off the crowd, constantly shit talking to Punk, and constantly breaking up Punk's momentum by thumbing him in the eye. Punk really didn't have the flexibility or athleticism to keep up with Ki in a showcase match, so something built around character work like this fits with his strengths. Ki was working really stiff as you might expect, including two super high double stomps which really pulverized Punk's toxin free liver.

ER: For two guys who I lump into the same East Coast Indy Revolution barrel, I certainly don't think of CM Punk as a Jersey All Pro guy, and wracking my brain I cannot actually think of a time I saw Punk match up with Ki. They were all wrestling the same guys during the same time period, so it had to have happened, I just don't recall seeing this match-up before in any form, before writing this entry. I was surprised that Low-Ki took so much of the match, and I wish we could have had a more interesting structure than Ki mostly dominating Punk for the first 80% before Punk just comes back full speed. I liked Punk's comeback, thought his long armed chops looked good, thought he had impressive pulling strength on an Irish whip, and he threw one of the best swinging neckbreakers. But it felt like he spent way too long getting his back and core worked over in brutal ways to come back so suddenly. Or maybe it was just that Ki looked that devastating on offense. Ki was great trash talking Punk, and making the fans clear space for him to throw Punk to the crowd, only for him to throw him to the ring, isn't something we see from Ki and I liked the Fuck You attitude as much as the expected silent warrior mode. I loved him taking apart Punk's core, dropping him on the guardrail, a really great gutbuster, a pair of double stomps with insane height (and another from the tree of woe that started with some clunkiness, which Punk recognized and totally saved it by punching back while getting put in woe), a really mean, targeted attack. Ki took Punk's stuff great (he's one of the best offense takers in wrestling history, and several guys who were JAPW regulars were also great at it) and I love him getting planted with that DDT earlier gave a nice reversal when Punk went to that DDT later. All in all it was a super fun contest, from an uncommon pairing.

Samoa Joe vs. Super Dragon - EPIC

PAS: These two guy had a pair of wars in PWG, but this war more of the touring indy version of this match. While this might not have been as epic in scope, they didn't tone down the violence even a little which makes it epic to me. The fact that Super Dragon throws such uncalled for shots really unleashes Joe's violent side. I have never seen a Muscle Buster look as spine damaging as it looked here, and he crushes SD with a death valley driver, and hits this jumping knee which looked like might have severed Dragon's head. Dragon of course unleashes nasty kicks and slaps and backhands, JAPW was and is a fed with potato chefs and these guys took it to a higher level.  I especially loved all of the leg sweeps, both guys where just flinging their legs recklessly at the ankles and knees of their respective opponents.

ER: This was really the peak of Super Dragon being king of all bump freaks. Indie wrestling was filled with tiny guys dying hot death (just look at H Effect earlier in the show) but Super Dragon was a heavyweight (still lean in 2004) that was just regularly taking moves on his neck. And if you were willing to eat a beating, this era Joe was a bad opponent for your body. I was surprised at how much this was dominated by Joe, but Dragon never felt out of it. Joe really was a beast here, that kneedrop Phil mentioned was one of the best I've seen Joe drop, and he had some absolutely devastating looking facewash kicks on the floor, plastering Dragon's head into the guardrail. Dragon had a great sell of one of them, seated in a chair, Joe lands the kick and Dragon just kind of slumps into the chair, holding his face. We build to a big dive where Dragon hits his insane tope, flipping through the ropes past the ringpost, and ends up falling on the back of his head due to the way he fell into Joe. Nasty. He hits a gorgeous springboard spinning heel kick to the back of Joe's head, and a nice double stomp/kneedrop off the top to the back of Joe's neck. But Joe is not a selfish man, and doesn't want to hog all that neck pain to himself, so he plants Dragon with a wayyyyy too snug death valley driver, and then yes, one of the nastiest muscle busters ever done. It's a shame we don't get Super Dragon the wrestler anymore, but after watching this 15 years later, it's kind of amazing we got him for as long as we did.

Homicide/B-Boy vs. Teddy Hart/Jack Evans - EPIC

PAS: This lived up to it's on paper promise. Teddy did lots of crazy flips, took a bunch of nutty bumps and clutched his knee a lot. Homicide chopped and punched people a lot and made crazy faces, Jack Evans did some wacko dives, including a moonsault to the floor bounding off of B-Boy in a fireman's carry. I loved the shooting star press version of Demolition Decapitation which the Matrats team pulled off, and Homicide just flapjacking Evans to the mat and flipping him right into a cop killer was nasty awesome stuff. Finish had some silly bullshit which JAPW would unfortunately fall victim to, the lights go out, and the Carnage Crew is in the ring (which has to be the most underwhelming, light go out guys in the history of wrestling), this is playing off of some early ROH locker room drama between Crew and Teddy, but then they have a swerve and the Crew turns on the SST and joins up with Teddy, big yawn, just end in a double DQ or something, this felt almost Russoish, and almost kept this match from EPIC status, still this is a magnetic match up and I can't wait to watch it all.

ER: I loved this. I think it's one of Hart's best performances. He absolutely dies so tragically on a few bumps that the crowd at the freaking Rahway Rec Center starts actively rooting for Teddy Hart and starts BOOING Homicide. B-Boy and Homicide came off like total assholes, and Evans/Hart have bodies that bend in ways that just shouldn't be possible. Hart and Evans get crumpled all over the ring and floor, Evans getting dumped by an Exploder, Hart getting launched into the crowd and taking out a fan and tumbling off the top to the apron and bouncing off the ring steps. It was crazy hearing the fans get so behind Teddy Hart, and Homicide/B-Boy were relentless. Evan's double stomping B-Boy and vaulting off of him into a moonsault was nuts, and that shooting star Demolition Decapitation was really breathtaking. There's no way that move should have looked that good and not seriously injured someone. It makes no sense. But a lot of stuff in this match looked like it would hurt like hell, like B-Boy's dropkick through the ropes or Evans getting folded in like 8 spots by the Cop Killah. This match also has an immaculately timed stupid spot that was timed so perfectly that it no longer looked anything like a stupid spot. Hart was setting up a shooting star press on B-Boy and as he starts it Homicide rushes in out of camera right and hits a perfect cutter. Those complicated precision timing spots usually just don't work. There are always seams. You see a guy frozen and waiting to hit his mark, because the window is so small. This was the most natural the spot could look, and really should have finished the match. We do get some match ending silliness, but I liked Homicide taunting Hart by locking on a sharpshooter, and Carnage Crew can NEVER be the most underwhelming lights go out in history because 1999 WCW gave us THE GIFT OF MIDNIGHT which will assuredly never not be the answer to that question. Hart cuts a hilariously 2004 post match promo about how Gabe Sapolsky thinks he's a piece of shit (because he did a bunch of flips or something and then pretended he had a concussion so didn't remember doing a bunch of flips) and then Devito says "Yeah but he's OUR piece of shit". This is gonna be great.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE LOW-KI

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE SUPER DRAGON

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE DIXIE AND INSANE DRAGON

HOMICIDE VS. TEDDY HART RIVALS

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