AEW Dynamite
June 5, 2024
By: John Siino
Blue Arena in Loveland, Colorado
Commentary: Excalibur, Taz & Tony Schiavone
RESULTS
*Rey Fenix over Orange Cassidy, Jay Lethal & Kyle O’Reilly via pinfall (9:28) (Recommended)
*Mark Briscoe over Brian Cage via pinfall (10:16)
*Blackpool Combat Club over Magnus, Rugido, Esfinge & Volador Jr. via pinfall (11:58) (Recommended)
*Saraya over Mariah May via submission (9:06) (Recommended)
*AEW World Title: Swerve Strickland over Roderick Strong via pinfall (14:09) (Recommended)
MJF Returns To Dynamite
MJF, in his Burberry MJF-style leather jacket, comes out to start the show and immediately tells them to cut his music as the Colorado crowd is loud for him. MJF says his eyes look bloodshot and squinty because they are in Colorado which gets another big pop. MJF starts promoting his merch as well as Forbidden Door where he’ll ‘probably wrestle some random guy from Mexico or Japan’. He then continues about a bunch of children making claims on his show, like ‘The Rainmaker’ who says can’t even afford a gym membership due to his physique. MJF continues talking about Swerve Strickland & Will Ospreay, making fun of both of them for the way they talk then named all the top people that Ospreay is not, but mentioned that he was able to beat all the names he just listed. MJF says the next time he wants to talk remember that Ospreay is not the best in the world, but MJF is. MJF talks about creating some of the best matches and moments in this sport and go from the most hated man to the most beloved.
MJF continues that while he was away, others were trying to smear his name and revise his history, but he then gets cut off by Rush. Rush starts talking trash down on the fans and say just like them, MJF doesn’t shut up. Rush says that while MJF was gone, he’s been here wrestling and asks where his spot is and how he’ll take it before delivering his catchphrase. MJF talks about how since The Elite took over from Tony Khan, it’s gotten worse and he hasn’t heard a word that Rush said. He then says at one point in time he paid Rush a lot of money to take out Bryan Danielson and brings up Rush coming from Lucha royalty and says some might call him a ‘nepo baby’ and tries very hard to get a chant going, which doesn’t really happy. MJF then starts talking in Spanish to Rush so nothing gets ‘lost in translation’, which prompts Rush to run in and start brawling with MJF. Christopher Daniels and security run in to break them apart.
It’s Go Time
We see a video of Roderick Strong training for tonight’s main event with a voice-over from him talking about him being so close to the AEW World Championship and Swerve’s reign coming to an end tonight from the hands of a wrestling legend and ends with ‘Fellas, it’s go time’.
AEW International Championship #1 Contenders Four Way Match: Orange Cassidy vs. Kyle O’Reilly vs. Jay Lethal (w/ Sonjay Dutt) vs. Rey Fenix (w/ Alex Abrahantes)
The winner of this match will receive a title shot against Will Ospreay on next week’s Dynamite. It starts fast with Jay Lethal sending Rey Fenix & Kyle O’Reilly to the outside, but instead of diving on them he just struts in the ring before Orange Cassidy takes him out from the top rope. O’Reilly starts working on Cassidy before Fenix gets involved in the corner and he hits a diving arm drag. Lethal tries the Lethal Injection on Fenix, but O’Reilly breaks it up as all four men start going at it, and all get knocked down in the ring as we go to picture-in-picture.
When we come back, Cassidy hits a Stundog Millionaire on Lethal and tries one on O’Reilly, but Fenix is there to break it up with a big splash. Lethal puts on a Figure Four on Cassidy, but breaks it up when he sees O’Reilly put on a sleeper on Fenix. All four continue before Cassidy lands a spinning DDT on Fenix and takes out O’Reilly with the Orange Punch. Lethal takes control and hits the Lethal Injection on O’Reilly, but then gets rolled up by Fenix for a surprise roll-up for the pin and the win.
Winner: Rey Fenix by pinfall at 9:28, to become AEW International Champion #1 Contender
Don Callis & Trent Beretta make their way down to the ring and go after Cassidy with a chair, but Cassidy is able to grab a chain from under the ring and confront them. Kris Statlander runs and gets in between them, as we hear Stokely Hathaway on the mic who says she’ll put her foot up Cassidy’s ass, as Statlander follows with a shot on Cassidy. Before she can do anything more, Willow Nightingale runs out and chases Statlander out of the ring.
Hi, Guys!
We cut to the parking lot where we see Chris Jericho, Big Bill & Bryan Keith have arrived. Jericho tells the driver of the car that he is supposed to come to a full and complete stop at every sign before saying hello to everybody and tells the cameraman (Larry or Lonnie) that he’s been meaning to talk about him and tells him that his work is a little shaky and takes it over and record Bill & Keith. After giving him some pointers, he tells the cameraman to follow them inside and give more advice.
The Dangerous Smile
Renee Paquette is in the back with Willow Nightingale and asks her where her head is after being turned on by Kris Statlander and losing her title to Mercedes Mone’. Willow gives her congratulations to Mercedes but says one day there’ll be a score to settle, as she had her shoulders down for at least 8 seconds. She moves on to Statlander betraying her at her lowest and says after being betrayed her smile can be dangerous. Orange Cassidy steps in and daps Willow up.
Out comes Christopher Daniels who talks about crowning a new TNT Champion in a Ladder Match at Forbidden Door. Daniels mentions another qualifying match happening right now, as out comes the ROH World Champion Mark Briscoe.
AEW TNT Title Qualifying Match: Mark Briscoe vs. Brian Cage
Brian Cage goes right after Mark Briscoe, but Briscoe is able to come back and kick Cage out of the ring as Taz yells at commentary to make sure they credit him for being the one who brought Cage into AEW. Briscoe takes out Cage with a dropkick to the outside and tosses a chair in the ring, which Paul Turner catches and tosses right back out to a storm of boos from the crowd. Cage takes control and takes out Briscoe with a big clothesline on the outside and tosses him hard into the barricade. Cage suplexes Briscoe from the apron back into the ring as we go to picture-in-picture.
When we come back, we see Don Callis in the stands with Konosuke Takeshita, who was the first person to advance to the TNT Title Ladder Match on Forbidden Door with a match on this past episode of Rampage. They start fighting in the corner, where Briscoe knocks Cage to the outside and grabs two chairs, one to distract Turner and another to use to leap off, onto Cage on the outside. Briscoe hits a dropkick back inside, as Jack Perry is seen watching on from the back. Cage comes back with a Flatliner and a Liger Bomb for two counts. Briscoe escapes out of a Drill Claw attempt, hits a Death Valley Driver before going to the top rope, and hits the Froggy Bow for the pin and the win.
Winner: Mark Briscoe by pinfall at 10:16, to advance to Forbidden Door’s TNT Championship Ladder Match
Jack Perry claps in the back and congratulates Briscoe for qualifying, but says at the end it won’t matter as he’s already proven that nobody has sacrificed more than him. Tony Khan can screw him all he wants but it’s been proven that he can’t be stopped. The universe has already chosen him and one way or another, he’s the next TNT Champion.
On Their Time
Renee is in the back with Samoa Joe & Hook (with Funyuns). Renee asks if this is mentorship. Before Joe can continue, they get interrupted by The Premiere Athletes as Tony Nese says after all these years, Hook is still eating that junk food. Hook comes back by saying after all these years, Nese is still losing matches. They get into a scuffle, but Joe breaks it up and says they’ll handle that but on their own time.
Respect Chris Jericho, Baby
After the break, we see Jericho & The Learning Tree who bump into Matt Menard & Angelo Parker and say their careers have skyrocketed since being with Jericho. Jericho congratulates Menard on taking his spot on Rampage and then gives Parker some fatherly advice and tells him it’s easy and if he does what he suggests, the baby will always be happy. Bryan Keith tells Parker to make sure the baby will respect Chris Jericho.
No Acclaimed
The Acclaimed & Billy Gunn start making their way down to the ring and Max Caster’s freestyle is about The Young Bucks and gives acronyms on what EVP stands for. The Bucks appear on the screen and cut them off and say according to the AEW playbook they can’t talk bad about the EVPs. Because of that, The Acclaimed’s segment is cut and tells them to go to the back.
Don’t Forget The Champion
Renee is in the back with AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland & Prince Nana and asks how he’s feeling going into tonight’s match with Roderick Strong. Firstly, Swerve calls MJF a little bitch and says he’ll deal with him in due time then shows the contract that he signed for Forbidden Door and tells Nana to leave it in front of his doorstep in the United Kingdom. Swerve calls himself the mountain of AEW and tells Strong he will bury him under it and mentions the EVPs winning at Anarchy in the Arena. Swerve says next time they assemble a Team AEW to represent AEW, to not forget the World Champion.
Mone’ Changes Everything
They make it official that Mercedes Mone’ will take on Stephanie Vaquer at Forbidden Door for both the AEW TBS Championship & NJPW Strong Women’s Championship. We then cut to a video of Mone’ talking about how important it was to compete in New Japan, and then having to create a whole new title for her. She talks about stepping into the ring with Vaquer being an honor and leaving her bankrupt. Mercedes says at Forbidden Door she’s coming for the title that was meant to be hers and when they step into the ring, she’ll see that Mone’ changes everything.
Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley, Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta) vs. Volador Jr., Magnus, Rugido & Esfinge
Wheeler Yuta coming back from injury, to have his first match since the January 12th episode of Rampage. All eight men go at it, as the bell rings, taking it to the outside of the ring and brawl all over and against the barricades. Bryan Danielson & Rugido end up in the ring and start chopping away at each other before everybody else runs in and starts going after each other. Esfinge helps Volador Jr. take Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli to the outside where they take them out. Magnus hits Danielson with the Tiger Faint Kick or as Taz calls, ‘Area Code Jones’, as Rugido gets a two count. Magnus & Yuta start going at it before the entire Blackpool Combat Club starts attacking Magnus in the corner finished, including a Hart Attack and a Fastball Special as we go to picture-in-picture.
We come back, with Magnus & Moxley going at it before everybody else gets involved with Esfinge dominating all of Blackpool Combat Club, tying up Claudio in a very impressive pin, for a two. Moxley stops all his momentum with a cutter before everybody starts taking turns. Claudio stops Magnus and puts him right into the Giant Swing, which Moxley ends with a dropkick. A flurry of tags from everybody, as there’s just nonstop offense for everybody until Danielson takes out Volador with a Busaiku Knee. Yuta takes Rugido and rolls him up into the Seatbelt pin for the win.
Winners: Blackpool Combat Club (Wheeler Yuta, Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli) by pinfall at 11:58
We go back to The Learning Tree, as Jericho stops a ‘branch’ at catering and tells him how to scoop it properly.
Out-Grit, Grind, Or Work
We see a video of Daniel Garcia talking about training to be a wrestler in Buffalo and how he struggled to get an opportunity and talks about the car accident he got into. Garcia says he’s grateful for that moment as it proved that life is too short and talks about challenging Ospreay for that International Title and knows that they can’t out-grit, grind, or outwork him.
Scratch Each Other’s Backs
We see The Acclaimed trying to get a word with the Young Bucks and says sooner or later they’ll have to face off with them before they start mocking the Bucks.
After the break, we see The Patriarchy walk into The Young Bucks office where Christian Cage says he can trust the EVPs and asks them for another title shot. Matthew Jackson says they are one of the best stables in the company, and if it was up to them he’d give them all belts. They tried that last week until Tony Khan’s stooge Christopher Daniels messed it up. They say they still have some pull and see what they’ll do and for the future, they’ll continue scratching each other’s back.
Mariah May vs. Saraya (w/ Harley Cameron & Zak Knight)
Toni Storm joints the commentary table, as Saraya attacks Mariah May before the bell, as May is wearing Storm’s old Outcasts gear. They announce that Toni Storm vs. Mina Shirakawa for the AEW Women’s World Championship is official for Forbidden Door as Storm talks about this being ‘Where the breast wrestle’. Saraya escapes to the outside as May starts chasing her around. Eventually, Harley Cameron gets in the way, as Saraya takes out May with a kick and sends her crashing into the barricade as we go to picture-in-picture.
We come back, and Storm is yelling for May to slap Saray’s tits off, before May lands a big headbutt, sending Saraya into the corner. May puts Saraya on the corner and takes her out with a handstand hurricane, heads to the top, and hits a missile dropkick to get a two on Saraya. Taz asks for a replay and doesn’t get it, which pops me every time. They go back and forth for a while, until Saraya hits a vicious-looking cradle DDT, but only gets two. Saraya puts May in the Scorpion Cross Lock, as Storm yells at her that she has to give up, as May does.
Winner: Saraya by submission at 9:06
Saraya & Harley continue to attack May after, as Storm runs in to try and help. It doesn’t work, as Mina Shirakawa runs out. Mina & Storm get into each other’s faces, as May pulls them both in before we see the graphic for their match for Forbidden Door
Public Party
The Learning Tree bumps into Private Party in the back and tells them that parties are more fun when they aren’t private, and they should open it to everybody just like his Vortex is and suggests they change it to Public Party. Private Party shugs off their advice, as Bryan Keith gets in their face. Bill pulls him back as Jericho invites them to TV Time next week.
The Best Shot
We go to Bryan Danielson who talks about this being his last year in wrestling, but it not going the way he wanted it to go, and brings up all the big matches that he’s lost including Anarchy in the Arena. Danielson says he talked to Wheeler Yuta and saw how fired up he was on coming back and making him realize that his last year isn’t done yet. He brings up the winner of the Owen Hart Cup getting a world title shot at All In, it fired him up one more time. It might be his last shot, but it’ll be the best shot he’s had in his entire career and he’s going out on top.
AEW World Championship: Swerve Strickland (c) (w/ Prince Nana) vs. Roderick Strong (w/ Matt Taven & Mike Bennett)
The crowd is amped up at the start of this match, as they have been for the majority of the night, as they start the match tied up in the ropes. They start running the ropes as Swerve Strickland does an impressive handstand before taking down Roderick Strong with headscissors. Swerve tries to do a House Call, but Strong escapes to the outside and regroups with The Undisputed Kingdom. They announce Serena Deeb vs. Mina Shirakawa for this week’s Rampage. Strong hits a backbreaker off the corner, sending Swerve to the outside. They start fighting on the outside, as Swerve slingshots Strong into the ring post as we go to picture-in-picture.
We come back, as Swerve is mostly in control and hits a brainbuster for two. Swerve continues with a power slam. Taven & Bennett on the outside cause a distraction, as Strong sends Swerve onto the apron with a backbreaker. They go back and forth in the ring, as Strong hits an Olympic Slam and a powerbomb for two. Schiavone mentioned the last time they wrestled was in 2019, which Strong won on an episode of NXT that I’m glad commentary can acknowledge, as they should. They start fighting on the apron before Swerve goes for the House Call, but Storng can dodge it before Swerve comes right back with the House Call to get the pin and the win.
Winner: Swerve Strickland by pinfall at 14:09, to retain
FINAL THOUGHTS
This show was overall just… fine. The matches were good, as expected, as the promos all had a purpose and made points for the most part, but it felt like this show was just coasting and nothing of real significance occurred or happened. Because of that, it did make the show flow really quickly and that’s always a good thing. I could see the constant non-wrestling segments getting to be too many, especially when there are 3 or 4 back-to-back backstage segments mixed with videos. The Learning Tree segments are either going to be loved or hated, hard to have an in-between, they just kept getting more and more ridiculous and might have been a bit too much and forced down as they kept going. There were some head-scratching decisions like nonchalant match announcements (Storm vs. Mina) that happened during another women’s match that THEN got followed with an explanation and looks like Deeb is already going back down the ladder with the match with Mina on Rampage, Daniel Garcia saying he wants to go after the International Championship, as four other men are fighting for it and the ROH World Champion going after a secondary AEW title. The wrestling as always, is good, but at this point, AEW needs to try to do something a little bit different to gain back any momentum.
