AEW Dynamite
June 12, 2024
By: John Siino
Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa
Commentary: Excalibur, Taz & Tony Schiavone
RESULTS
*Jack Perry over Dustin Rhodes via pinfall (10:05) (Recommended)
*Rush over Deonn Rusman via pinfall (1:30)
*Kyle Fletcher, Konosuke Takeshita & Roderick Strong over Orange Cassidy, Kyle O’Reilly & Mark Briscoe via pinfall (13:03) (Recommended)
*Hook & Samoa Joe over The Premier Athletes via submission (2:30)
*TBS Title: Mercedes Mone’ over Zeuxis via pinfall (10:09) (Recommended)
*Daniel Garcia over Nick Comoroto via pinfall (1:11)
*International Title: Will Ospreay over Rey Fenix via pinfall (15:12) (Recommended)
Blood & Pumps
The show starts with AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland making his way down to the ring with Prince Nana, as the crowd gives him a great reaction here in Iowa. Swerve asks the crowd if they are ready for Dynamite and Forbidden Door, and starts talking about his upcoming defense against Will Ospreay and being two of the biggest stars colliding for the gold. He stops himself short of calling both of them killers but says that Ospreay hasn’t developed that killer instinct yet. Swerve says at All In last year he saw Ospreay as an Assassin against Kenny Omega, as well as when he faced Konosuke Takeshita & Bryan Danielson, but at Double or Nothing he didn’t quite see that Assassin. Swerve says he’s not a target you want to hesitate on, and he got the nickname of ‘Killshot’ for a reason because if you don’t pull the trigger on him, he sure as hell will.
Swerve does bring up how Ospreay is a fighting champion, including tonight, unlike the EVPs who have yet to defend them. This prompts The Elite to come out, as Kazuchika Okada is on the mic telling Swerve to stop, before saying that it’s ‘My house, bitch’. Nicholas Jackson starts talking about all the people The Elite have taken out recently including destroying Team AEW at Anarchy in the Arena, and half the roster being gone because of them. They talk about all the trolls, bots, and wrestlers in the back doubting them and not thinking they are violent enough, but they challenge AEW’s best for Blood & Guts. Matthew Jackson takes over and says they like Swerve’s style and think he’s cool, and he’s a champion just like them so they come down there to ask him a question if he wants to stand side by side with them and change the world. They bring up Blood & Guts being traditionally 5 vs. 5 and ask Swerve to join their team and hand them their new Young Bucks Reebok pumps.
Swerve says he doesn’t wear size 9 and nobody wears pearl necklaces anymore, as Nana tosses the shoes into the crowd. Matthew says that an injury bug is about to land on Swerve and go to attack them, but The Acclaimed & Billy Gunn runs into the ring to chase The Elite away. Christopher Daniels interrupts them and tells them they need to all leave, as they have an upcoming TNT Championship Qualifying Match, but tells Jack Perry to stay there, as he is wrestling right now against Dustin Rhodes.
AEW TNT Championship Forbidden Door Qualifying Match: Jack Perry vs. Dustin Rhodes
Jack Perry complains that he’s not even dressed to compete, and attacks Dustin Rhodes before the bell even rings. Rhodes after Perry in the corner by pulling his hair and attacking his back, but Perry is able to escape by pulling off the turnbuckle pad and sending Rhodes to the outside where they start battling. Perry takes control and sends Rhodes into the steel steps, but Rhodes comes back and back-body drops Perry into the exposed floor, as his forehead is busted open going into picture-in-picture.
When we return, they are back in the ring with Perry in control but as he sets Rhodes up for the V-Trigger, Rhodes is able to counter it with a power slam. They trade strikes before Rhodes hits a bulldog, as the blood is totally covering Rhodes’ eyes and face. Rhodes sets up Perry for the Golden Globes, but Aubrey Edwards stops him. As Aubrey takes away the chair that Perry had introduced in the ring from him, Rhodes does hit the Golden Globes. Rhodes stays on top of Perry and hits the Cross Rhodes, but Perry is able to kick out at two. While going back and forth, Perry sends Rhodes head-first right into the exposed corner, before taking him to the outside where he DDT’s Rhodes right onto the exposed concrete. Aubrey starts counting out Rhodes, but he is able to make it back in right before the 10 count. As Aubrey randomly turns her back and goes into the corner, Perry hits a low blow on Rhodes, but Rhodes flips the bird at him. Perry follows this with a running knee strike to get the pin and the win.
Winner: Jack Perry by pinfall at 10:05, to advance to the TNT Championship Ladder Match at Forbidden Door
Word of the Day: Conglomeration
Renee Paquette is in the back with Orange Cassidy, Mark Briscoe & Kyle O’Reilly and asks how they are going to function after being opponents this past Saturday and O’Reilly says they are professionals. Renee asks Orange what he will do about the Don Callis Family & Kris Statlander situation, as Orange brings in Willow Nightingale who definitely has her back. Briscoe talks about the word of the day being “Conglomeration” and talks about the things they will do to their opponents tonight and totally hypes them all up, including me.
Rush vs. Deonn Rusman
Deonn Rusman gets a big reaction being here from Iowa, but Rush takes him down and to the outside right away and starts tossing him against the barricades. Rush sends Rusman back inside and starts chopping away at him in the corner, before stomping him out and hitting him with the Bull’s Horns to get the quick pin and the win.
Winner: Rush by pinfall at 1:30
Rush grabs the microphone from Justin Roberts and tells the crowd to shut up, before going back inside putting his foot on Rusman’s throat, and calling him a weak typical American like everyone here in the crowd. Rush sets him up for another Bull’s Horns, but he gets interrupted by MJF who makes his way down to the ring, with his fists all taped up. They start going at it before security guards try to stop them, but Rush & MJF take them all out as well. Christopher Daniels tries to get in the ring and stop them but fails as Rush & MJF take it to the outside and continue to brawl with MJF sending Rush into the crowd. They continue to make their way through the crowd, fighting through the fans before MJF drags Rush to the back. They continue to fight before MJF puts Rush through a table with a spinebuster, but Rush comes right back by tossing a trash bin into MJF. More officials and members of the roster come out and keep them separated as Excalibur says that it has been official for next week’s Dynamite, MJF vs. Rush kicking off the show in a commercial-free match.
Orange Cassidy, Kyle O’Reilly & Mark Briscoe vs. Kyle Fletcher, Konosuke Takeshita & Roderick Strong (w/ Trent Beretta, Matt Taven & Mike Bennett)
Don Callis joins commentary with Trent Beretta behind him as Roderick Strong & Orange Cassidy start the match, but right away Orange tags out to Kyle O’Reilly as Strong tags out to Kyle Fletcher. The Kyles start trading forearms here before Mark Briscoe tags in and continues to work on Fletcher in the corner with chops. Konosuke Takeshita tags in and goes into a strike battle with Briscoe, before taking out O’Reilly & Briscoe while having Cassidy on his shoulders. They all start fighting in and out of the ring, including Briscoe hitting a cannonball before being taken out by Fletcher. With everybody else on the outside, Cassidy springboards off the ropes onto them before getting into Trent Beretta’s face. With Beretta distracting him, Takeshita takes out Cassidy from behind as the heels surround him going into picture-in-picture.
We come back just in time for Cassidy to make the hot tag to O’Reilly who goes to town on Strong, before fighting off both members of The Don Callis Family. Briscoe tags in and it’s his turn to start attacking all opponents including using some Redneck Kung Fu on Strong. Briscoe continues on the attack before Cassidy tags himself in and hits Fletcher with a diving DDT for a two-count. Takeshita holds Cassidy by the foot, which causes Fletcher to take control. All six men start trading offense with each other before a Slumdog Millionaire from Cassidy to Fletcher and a Total Elimination style move from Cassidy & O’Reilly to him. Fletcher hits a turnbuckle brainbuster to Cassidy but doesn’t realize Briscoe has tagged himself in who breaks it up with a Froggy Bow for a two. During all this confusion, Takeshita hits a Power Drive knee on Briscoe, followed by the piledriver from Fletcher to get the pin and the win.
Winners: Kyle Fletcher, Konosuke Takeshita & Roderick Strong by pinfall at 13:03
The heels keep attacking the faces after the match until Willow Nightingale’s music hits, but it’s revealed that Kris Statlander has attacked her and tossed her onto the stage. Stokely Hathaway gets on the mic and tells Willow the next time she decides to get in their business, they won’t be dragging her to the stage, but to the ER.
Fenix, Shingo & Cameraman Shibata
Renee is in the back as Rey Fenix is showing getting ready for the match. Renee talks about all of Fenix’s accolades and how he had to vacate the title, but he’s well aware of what Will Ospreay is capable of.
We get a video for Shingo Takagi who says he’s ready for the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament.
We go to Christopher Daniels who says next week The Elite will wrestle in Eliminator Matches, and if their opponents win they will earn shots at their titles, but both Young Bucks & Kazuchika Okada will have their seconds barred from ringside.
Samoa Joe, Hook & cameraman Katsuyori Shibata are in the back as Joe starts questioning Hook why Taz wears orange and wonders if it’s because of the Syracuse Orange, before heading to the stage and attacking The Premier Athletes from the back.
Samoa Joe & Hook (w/ Katsuyori Shibata) vs. The Premier Athletes (Tony Nese & Ariya Daivari) (w/ Mark Sterling)
Once the bell rings, The Premier Athletes are able to keep Hook in their corner with stomps. Hook is able to escape and fights them both off, including doing Samoa Joe’s signature walk-off from a top rope move spot. Mark Sterling though holds Hook back, before Katsuyori Shibata (who has dropped the camera) takes him out. Samoa Joe chokes out Nese with a Coquina Clutch as Hook puts the Redrum on Ariya Daivari as he chokes him out to end the match, while Shibata has Sterling in a sleeper hold as well.
Winners: Hook & Samoa Joe by submission at 2:30
La Primera
We get some words from Stephanie Vaquer who questions Mercedes Mone’ arrogance in going after her NJPW Strong Women’s Championship. Vaquer says the title is her and it’s not going anywhere and at Forbidden Door she will become a double champion because she is La Primera.
AEW TBS Championship: Mercedes Mone’ (c) vs. Zeuxis
Excalibur brings up how the match between Mercedes & Vaquer at Forbidden Door can change stipulations, if Zeuxis takes the title tonight it will be for only Vaquer’s title, and also if Vaquer loses her title in the upcoming match with La Catalina, it is only for the TBS Title at that point (That match being at CMLL x NJPW Fantastica Mania on June 21st)
They start the match out smarting each other until Mone hits a dropkick for a two-count. Zeuxis takes control, before they head to the outside where Mone’ takes Zeuxis down by hitting an arm drag off the commentary table! Zeuxis takes over with a basement dropkick before taking out Mercedes with a big dive as we go to picture-in-picture.
We come back in mid-sentence of Taz talking about San Juan, Puerto Rico (I wonder what he was speaking of), as Mercedes catches Zeuxis, hitting her with a roundhouse kick. Zeuxis comes right back with a Liger Bomb for a two-count. As Zeuxis tries another powerbomb, Mercedes reverses it into a hurricanrana for two of her own followed by a sunset flip, but Zeuxis stops her with knees to the face for another two. Mercedes comes back with a bulldog and a pair of knees to the corner, heads to the ropes, and hits a Meteora for two. Back and forth before Zeuxis hits a double underhook into a lung blower for another two, as commentary mentions Zeuxis going for repeated pin attempts in this match. Back and forth until Mercedes hit the Mone’ Maker for the pin and the win.
Winner: Mercedes Mone’ by pinfall at 10:09, to retain
“O, What A Tangled Web We Weave”
We get a video package on Mina Shirakawa talking about her wanting everybody, with some words from Mariah May as well, before we go to Renee in the back with Toni Storm, May & Luther as May is grateful for Storm getting her a spot in the Owen Hart Foundation and says next week she will host a contract signing between Mina & Storm, as Renee tells Storm she has a match against Alex Windsor on Rampage this Friday.
TV Time with Private Party
Big Bill is in the ring for tonight’s episode of TV Time before introducing Chris Jericho who comes out to Bryan Keith and says hello to everybody. Jericho shows off his new ‘Hi Guys’ t-shirt that came out 15 minutes ago and says it’s already one of the top-selling shirts in AEW history and asks who wants one, before just gently putting it down. This cracks me up every time. Jericho starts giving Iowa advice on how to grow corn. Keith gets on the mic and tells them to respect Jericho if they want to grow some ‘good-ass corn’. Jericho continues about being a teacher to those in the back before bringing out Private Party.
As they come out, Big Bill is dancing to their song as commentary mentions him being from Queens but yet him being a Yankees fan (I’m as confused). Jericho tells them that they need a designated driver if they take so many ‘shots’ but says they haven’t been winning too many and asks who even trained them. Sign me up for The Amazing Red vs. Chris Jericho at the NYC Arena in Jamaica, Queens for House of Glory. Jericho continues about their high-flying moves as Isiah Kassidy says some might call Jericho the Caitlin Clark of wrestling. Jericho gets on the top corner to show off some high-flying moves that Owen Hart taught him, but this is just a ploy from Private Party who knocks him off the top rope and takes out Bill & Keith, before hitting a Swanton and Shooting Star Press on Jericho, before running to the back.
We get a recap of Jon Moxley defeating EVIL at NJPW Dominion, followed by the challenge from Tetsuya Naito for Forbidden Door for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.
The Bang Bang Gang is in the back sans Jay White and asks the House of Black what they even do and then turns the lights off and pretends to be scared. Juice Robinson says if House of Black want action on Collision, the Collision Cowboys will give them some action and kick their asses.
Daniel Garcia vs. Nick Comoroto (w/ Jacoby Watts)
Daniel Garcia goes right after Nick Comoroto in the corner, as Matt Menard is there to cheer him on, on commentary as we see Will Ospreay watching from the back. Comoroto tries to press slam Garcia, but he escapes and hits a Saito Suplex and now we see MJF is watching from the back as well. Garcia puts on a Guillotine choke before hitting Comoroto with a DDT to get the quick win.
Winner: Daniel Garcia by pinfall at 1:11
Renee gets a word with Ospreay and asks how his body is dealing with all these title defenses going into Forbidden Door. Ospreay says he has to focus on this Fenix match and a contract to deliver as well, as we see the envelope from last week that was sent over to him to sign for Forbidden Door.
The Bastard Feels Like A Bitch
PAC is in the back and talks about returning to the company and having failure after failure and loss after loss and it’s humiliating. He talks about how he’s supposed to be a bastard, but he feels like a bitch, but the good news is that ends now as he is angry again, so he will be entering and winning the Owen Hart Cup and will go on to claim his AEW World Championship opportunity at Wembley Stadium, as he is damned if a talent of his caliber to not wrestle there and win the title, as this is his redemption story but tells Bang Bang Gang that Death Triangle hasn’t forgotten what they did to them, as they don’t forget.
AEW International Championship: Will Ospreay (c) vs. Rey Fenix
As Will Ospreay makes his way out, he sees Swerve Strickland & Prince Nana watching from the crowd and hands them the signed contract. No Alex Abrahantes is out with Rey Fenix, as I’m sure Davie Portman will be devasted as Tony Schiavone says there is an over-run tonight. Excalibur brings up this being their fourth singles encounter, but first in AEW, as Ospreay holds a 3-0 record so far. They quickly go at it and end up on the apron where Ospreay kicks him off to the outside but misses the dive, as Fenix hits a hurricanrana followed by a springboard Frog Splash for a two-count, going into picture-in-picture.
When we come back, the insane and intense offense continues which is hard to focus on as Excalibur runs down the upcoming cards for Rampage, Collision & Dynamite including announcing Blood & Guts happening on July 24th’s episode of Dynamite from Nashville, Tennessee. Fenix & Ospreay battle on the top rope, as a hurricanrana has Ospreay land on his feet to a big reaction, as Fenix does one back.
When we came back, they mentioned Abrahantes was not here tonight from being injured last week. They go back and forth trading pin attempts and running the ropes until Fenix blocks an Os Cutter before Ospreay is able to land another one. Fenix sets up Ospreay in the corner, but Ospreay stops him with a Hidden Blade, heads to the top rope, looks at Swerve says it’s his house, and hits a Swerve Stomp, followed by another Hidden Blade for the pin and the win.
Winner: Will Ospreay by pinfall at 15:12, to retain
After the match Swerve gets in Ospreay’s face and starts yelling at him for not being strong enough, but upon separating, Ospreay ends up holding both titles and puts them both over his shoulders. Swerve tells Ospreay he’s lucky they are still friends because anybody else would have done that, he’d put them in the grave.
Rampage Line-Up
- Toni Storm vs. Alex Windsor
Collision 1-Year Anniversary Line-Up
- Christian Cage Father’s Day special
- Blackpool Combat Club vs. TMDK, Lio Rush & Rocky Romero
- Bang Bang Gang vs. House of Black
- Lee Moriarty vs. Dante Martin (TNT Title Forbidden Door Qualifying Match) *
- No DQ: Thunder Rosa vs. Deonna Purrazzo *
*No graphics were shown for these matches but announced on last week’s episode of Collision
Dynamite Line-Up
- MJF vs. Rush (Kicks off the show, commercial-free)
- Young Bucks vs. The Acclaimed (AEW World Tag Team Title Eliminator Match)
Blood & Guts will be on Wednesday, July 24th from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee with tickets going on sale this Saturday.
FINAL THOUGHTS
A very fast-moving episode of Dynamite with a lot of moving parts. A well-balanced episode with four really strong in-ring matches all being separated by quick squash matches all being under 3 minutes made for an evenly flowing episode of Dynamite. The non-wrestling segments with Swerve & Elite, MJF & Rush, and TV Time all set up matches that are happening, as well as entrants in the Owen Hart Foundation. The Blood & Guts setup was a bit confusing at first until I realized that there is no pay-per-view for AEW in July hence why Blood & Guts happens that month.
Very strong segment from Swerve & Ospreay to close the show, and exactly what that match needed. Not sure who’s helping out the layout of the show, but a massive improvement at making an organized yet chaotic show tonight. Hopefully, it maintains, for all the sickos.
