By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
AEW Dynamite (Episode 134)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at Liacouras Center
Aired live April 27, 2022 on TBS
[Hour One] The Dynamite opening aired and then the broadcast team of Jim Ross, Excalibur, and Tony Schiavone checked in. Justin Roberts was the ring announcer. CM Punk made his entrance in regular attire and joined the broadcast team for the opening match…
1. Dax Harwood vs. Cash Wheeler in an Owen Hart Cup tournament qualifier. Harwood and Wheeler walked out of opposite tunnels at roughly the same time and headed to the ring together. Ross emphasized that it would not be a scrimmage between the two, and touted that there would be “live rounds.”
Harwood and Wheeler opened with good back and forth wrestling with neither man grabbing a decisive advantage. Harwood caught Wheeler with a finger in the eye. He tried to apologized, but Wheeler shoved him twice and then delivered a knee to the gut. Wheeler followed up with a shoulder block to the mid-section and then fired away with a couple of chops.
Harwood came back with a middle rope superplex. Punk said Harwood and Wheeler might be friends, but the ring does no one any favors. Punk also spoke about the tournament being about Owen Hart and who he was outside the ring, not just in it. Harwood went for a top rope headbutt, but Wheeler rolled out of the way. Wheeler followed with a low dropkick that knocked Harwood off the apron heading into a picture-in-picture break. [C]
Harwood and Wheeler traded chops during the break. Wheeler eventually whipped Harwood into the corner and both men stayed down for a moment. Wheeler executed two suplexes and then a third as the show returned from the break. Harwood returned the favor. Both men ran the ropes and had a mid-air collision.
Harwood and Wheeler traded uppercuts, forearms, and punches. Harwood went for a piledriver that was stuffed by Wheeler, who went for a sunset flip that Harwood rolled through and picked up a two count. Harwood rolled Wheeler into another pin for another near fall.
Wheeler went for a backslide, but Wheeler pressed out of the corner and ended up getting another two count. Harwood performed a slingshot powerbomb for a two count. Harwood picked up another near fall, but Wheeler came right back with a piledriver for a near fall. Meanwhile, the broadcast team sang the praises of Owen Hart.
A short time later, Wheeler went for a side suplex off the top rope, but Harwood ended up landing on Wheeler and covering him for a near fall. “That was a receipt for that piledriver,” Punk said. Harwood went for a running crossbody block, causing both men to tumble through the ropes to the floor. Wheeler came up holding his knee and both men barely beat the referee’s count by returning to the ring.
Harwood set up for a Sharpshooter and then hesitated. Wheeler caught him in an inside cradle, but Harwood reversed it and got the three count. Harwood and Wheeler stood together while the referee raised Harwood’s arm, and then they immediately hugged…
Dax Harwood defeated Cash Wheeler in 15:05 to qualify for the Owen Hart Cup tournament.
Powell’s POV: That was a real treat. It was really fun to see the tag team partners have such a good, crisp pro wrestling match. FTR are on fire.
The broadcast team hyped Hangman Page vs. CM Punk for the AEW World Championship at the May 29 AEW Double Or Nothing pay-per-view…
CM Punk grabbed a mic and headed to the ring. Punk asked the crowd to give it up for Harwood and Wheeler. He said he’s never been in a locker room with more talent than there is in AEW. He said when he returned to pro wrestling, he asked himself if he could still do this. “Hell yeah, I can still do this,” Punk said as he walked around the ringside area.
Punk praised the fans and said he couldn’t have made it this far without him. He said Hangman Page will know that he’s been in a fight regardless of whether he wins, loses, or draw. Punk said he will continue to fight until the wheels fall off. Punk entered the ring and played to the crowd while his entrance theme played…
Scorpio Sky and Dan Lambert delivered a backstage promo. Sky said the Philly crowd wasn’t there to see a great wrestling match, they were there to see him kick Sammy Guevara’s ass…
2. “The Blackpool Combat Club” Jon Moxley, Bryan Danielson, and Wheeler Yuta vs. “The Factory” QT Marshall, Nick Comoroto, and Aaron Solo (w/Anthony Ogogo). The Factory’s entrance was not televised. William Regal made his entrance with Yuta and sat in on commentary for the match. Yuta received a big reaction from his hometown crowd. Comoroto was getting the better of Yuta heading into a PIP break. [C]
Danielson took a hot tag from Yuta and fought with Solo. Danielson performed a suicide dive onto Solo’s partners, then returned to the ring and missile dropkicked Solo. Danielson threw a series of kicks at Solo, who ducked the last one and rolled him up for a one count. Danielson went for his finisher, but Marshall cut him off.
Moxley ran in and joined Danielson in working over Solo and Marshall. Danielson placed Solo on the top rope and tried to join him, but Solo shoved him off. Solo leapt off the top rope and into a Danielson dropkick. Yuta tagged in and got a second crack at Comoroto, who tossed him across the ring.
Comoroto hoisted up Yuta and ran him into the corner, but Yuta caught him in a submission hold. When Comoroto powered out, Yuta countered into another submission hold. Yuta threw elbows at Comoroto and pinned him while Moxley and Danielson put Marshall and Solo in submission holds…
“The Blackpool Combat Club” Jon Moxley, Bryan Danielson, and Wheeler Yuta defeated “The Factory” QT Marshall, Nick Comoroto, and Aaron Solo in 8:50.
Powell’s POV: Another well received match involving The BCC. Yuta picked up the win for the trio in his hometown. He is definitely over with the live crowds, but I still believe the key to him having staying power will be his mic work and character development.
Tony Schiavone interviewed Britt Baker, Jamie Hayter, and Toni Storm and thanked them in advance for no physicality. Ruby Soho showed up and accused Baker and Hayter of throwing their proverbial dicks around whenever someone new shows up. She recalled Owen Hart saying enough is enough and it’s time for a change. Baker said she was hungry and that she and Hayter needed to visit Soho’s home in catering…
Excalibur hyped the upcoming matches and segments before the show cut to a full commercial break… [C]
Backstage, Tony Schiavone interviewed Jungle Boy, Luchasaurus, and Christian Cage. Jungle Boy said he should have beaten Kyle O’Reilly last week, but he got carried away and didn’t finish him when he had the chance. Cage said Jungle Boy didn’t sound like a sore loser, he just sounded like a loser. Cage said they are still the tag team champions and they can write a wrong. Cage started to issue a challenge to any team ranked in the top five.
Ricky Starks and Powerhouse Hobbs showed up. Starks said they are ranked third in the tag team rankings. Starks said they would face Jurassic Express on any show…
Lance Archer made his entrance. MJF and Shawn Spears were in a luxury box. MJF asked Spears if he knows what people in Philadelphia use for birth control, then said they use their personalities. Funny. MJF stood up and heeled on the crowd and the “pig” Wardlow, who then made his handcuffed entrance while security followed…
3. Wardlow vs. Lance Archer (w/Jake Roberts). Time stood still as a security guard struggled to get the handcuffs off. Archer performed a cannonball dive onto Wardlow and some of the guards. Archer tossed Wardlow back in the ring and the referee called for the bell to start the match. Archer tried to clothesline Wardlow, who ducked it and then performed a huracanrana.
Archer came back and hit his Blackout finisher, but Wardlow countered into a pin for a two count. Wardlow eventually rallied and hit the Powerbomb Symphony with four powerbombs before scoring the clean pin…
Wardlow defeated Lance Archer in 5:30.
MJF showed frustration in his luxury box. Wardlow was handcuffed and led to the back by security… [C]
Powell’s POV: I thought this might be the week that Wardlow being handcuffed would lead to him being attacked simply so that they could avoid having a clean finish. Rather, Wardlow picked up what felt like a big win over Archer. Sure, Archer has lost some high profile matches in AEW, but those have been to top wrestlers, so this sent the message that Wardlow is in that upper mix.
“The Jericho Appreciation Society” Chris Jericho, Matt Menard, Angelo Parker, Jake Hager, and Daniel Garcia entered to Fozzy’s “Judas.” A table and chairs were set up in the ring. Parker said they had to give their word to Tony Khan that there would be no physicality during the segment.
Eddie Kingston, Santana, and Ortiz made their entrance. Kingston tossed his trio’s chairs out of the ring. Jericho demanded apologies from Santana and Ortiz, who searched inside their pockets and pulled out their middle fingers. Santana said Jericho turned his back on the two guys who know him best.
[Hour Two] Kingston told Jericho that he’s not a fan of the sports entertainment crap. He recalled telling him to stop with the crap and fight. Jericho said the problem is that it’s five-on-three and they are too stupid to realize it. Jericho said the JAS would take them out one by one and put a hit on all their asses.
Kingston said that a hit in his world means you end it. Jericho said AEW is Kingston’s last chance because no one else wants him. Jericho took a seat on a chair. Kingston leaned down to get in his face and said that when you say a hit in his world, you have to be prepared to put someone in the ground. He said they’ve done it before and would do it again. Kingston asked Jericho if he was ready to do the same. Kingston said nah, and tossed the mic aside while Jericho’s eyes bugged out…
Powell’s POV: The tongue in cheek JAS and the realistic grittiness of Kingston’s side just isn’t meshing well. I really enjoyed the Kingston vs. Jericho match, but it feels like they’ve needlessly added a lot of additional parties to what was a strong singles program.
A brief Sammy Guevara video aired with him speaking out the ladder match…
4. Hikaru Shida vs. Serena Deeb in a Philadelphia Street Fight. Both entrances were televised. Deeb introduced a chair. She picked up Shida and dropped her knee-first onto the chair heading into a PIP break. [C] Deeb remained on the offensive during the break.
Deeb sprayed a fire extinguisher at Shida coming out of the break and then worked her over with a kendo stick. Shida avoided Deeb’s finisher. She picked up the kendo stick and acted blinded by the fire extinguisher and swung the stick around. Shida went to ringside and got water from a security guard to wash out her eyes.
Back in the ring, Shida took her turn using the kendo stick as a weapon. She set up for a kick, but Deeb held the chair in front of her. Deeb went to the ropes, but Shida got to her feet and slammed a chair over Deeb’s back. Shida performed a falcon arrow from the ropes for a near fall.
Shida blasted Deeb with the kendo stick and then choked her with it. She eventually placed the stick over a chair and set up for a move, but Deeb thumbed her eyes. Deeb performed Detox onto the chair for a near fall. Deeb went for the Serenity Lock. Shida grabbed the ropes, but the broadcast team pointed out that there were no rope breaks. Deeb slammed Shida’s knee onto the chair repeatedly and then applied a Texas Cloverleaf and got the submission win…
Serena Deeb beat Hikaru Shida in roughly 10:40 in a Philadelphia Street Fight.
After the match, Thunder Rosa was shown watching the match on a backstage monitor…
Powell’s POV: AEW’s version of Peter Griffin and The Chicken continues. In this case, Deeb’s win appears to have set her up for an AEW Women’s Title match given the post match shot of Rosa.
Backstage, Lexy Nair interviewed MJF and Shawn Spears. She said MJF seemed shockingly calm considering what Wardlow did earlier. MJF got her name wrong and then yelled at her to get out of his face. Spears took the mic and held it while MJF made a phone call. MJF asked the person on the phone if he would like to make six figures in one night. MJF ended the call and then said that Wardlow would face a man who is stronger, smarter, and taller than him. “And you can’t teach that,” MJF closed… [C]
Powell’s POV: I assume MJF is teasing W Morrissey, who worked as Big Cass in WWE. Morrissey has been working for Impact Wrestling and has done really nice work there.
The lights went out and when they turned on, Fuego Del Sol was lying on the stage with a spotlight on him. Malakai Black walked out and knelt over Del Sol and told him that he picked a fight with the wrong three men. Brody King and Buddy Matthews came out and the trio set up to remove Fuego’s mask.
Alex Abrahantes spoke and appeared to be standing in the ring. He spoke about how wrong it was to take a luchador’s mask. He said they have been waiting to blindside The House of Black. Pac and Penta Oscuro made their entrance. Abrahantes walked out behind them.
Rey Fenix removed the Abrahantes attire in the ring and then cleared the House of Black members from the ring. The Death Triangle trio performed dives onto them on the floor…
Powell’s POV: So the oddball Fuego story was just their way of going back to the House of Black feud with Death Triangle? They’ll have some great spot-fest style matches now that Fenix is back, but I still don’t feel like the House of Black has been well established. Sure, we get a lot of Malakai Black promos that seem to have deep meaning to him, but I just don’t feel like they’ve done a great job of introducing Brody King or Buddy Matthews or what the group’s purpose is.
Excalibur announced Swerve Strickland vs. Darby Allin in an Owen Hart tournament qualifier for Friday’s AEW Rampage. Schiavone interviewed both men in the backstage area. Swerve spoke about how they’ve beaten the hell out of each other in the past, but he said Allin has grown up and he’s proud of him. Swerve said he would make Rampage his house again. Allin said AEW is his house because he’s been in AEW since day one. He said he would show by the tournament is also his tournament…
5. “The Undisputed Elite” Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, Kyle O’Reilly, Matt Jackson, and Nick Jackson vs. Dante Martin, Brian Pillman Jr., Griff Garrison, Lee Johnson, and Brock Anderson (w/Arn Anderson, Julia Hart). The babyface team’s entrance was not televised. Hart was still wearing an eye patch and acted uninterested. The babyfaces had offensive control briefly heading into a PIP break. [C]
Late in the match, the UE cleared everyone other than Johnson from the ring. They hit him with a four-way BTE Trigger, and then Cole finished him off with The Boom knee strike.
“The Undisputed Elite” Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, Kyle O’Reilly, Matt Jackson, and Nick Jackson defeated Dante Martin, Brian Pillman Jr., Griff Garrison, Lee Johnson, and Brock Anderson in 6:30.
After the match, Cole passed out Undisputed Elite t-shirts to his teammates. They all put the t-shirts on and posed together…
They cut backstage where JAS had laid out Santana and Ortiz. Hager and Garcia held Kingston and then Jericho threw a fireball at him…
Powell’s POV: The match was just a simple showcase win for UE in a match with zero doubt regarding the outcome. The fireball angle felt a little desperate, but perhaps it can breathe some life into this feud.
Excalibur announced the following matches for Rampage: Swerve Strickland vs. Darby Allin in an Owen Hart tournament qualifier, Hook and Danhausen meeting face to face, Jade Cargill, Red Velvet, and Kiera Hogan vs. Willow Nightingale, Trish Adora, and Skye Blue, Colten Gunn vs. Keith Lee, and Samoa Joe vs. Trent Beretta for the ROH Championship.
A video package spotlighted the Joe vs. Beretta match with comments from both men…
Schiavone announced the following matches for next week’s AEW Dynamite: Deonna Purrazzo vs. Mercedes Martinez to unify the ROH Women’s Championship, Wardlow vs. MJF’s mystery opponent, and Bobby Fish vs. Jeff Hardy in an Owen Hart tournament qualifier…
Ross hyped the ladder match main event… [C]
Powell’s POV: I guess Trent’s loss to Bryan Danielson on Rampage earlier this month somehow made him the No. 1 contender to the ROH Championship. Trent’s last singles win was over Nick Jackson back in January.
6. Sammy Guevara (w/Tay Conti) vs. Scorpio Sky (w/Dan Lambert) in a ladder match for the TNT Championship. Sky came out first and attacked Guevara at ringside to apparently start the match. Sky set up a ladder in the ring. Sammy eventually climbed onto it and went for a wild 450 corkscrew style move that completely missed everything other than maybe one of Sky’s arms. Both men stayed down and the referees checked on them during the first part of the PIP break. [C]
Coming out of the break, both men stood on ladders. Guevara leapt off of his and Sky hit him with a Cutter on the way down. Sky pulled a ladder wrapped in barbwire out from underneath the ring and then slid it inside the ring. Guevara ended up slamming Sky onto the barbwire ladder.
Guevara pulled Lambert into the ring and then pointed behind him. When Lambert turned around, Conti kicked him in the balls. Paige VanZant ran out and fought with Conti. VanZant to the better of it and celebrated with Sky, but then Guevara and Conti came back to life and put them down down before making out.
Guevara and Conti retrieved the barbwire ladder and then Guevara leaned it against the ropes. Sky put Guevara down with a Flatliner. Sky made a play for the the belt, but Conti climbed onto his back. Guevara tried to go up the other side and then VanZant climbed on his back. Both women ended up back in the ring and fought to ringside.
Sky bit the finger of Guevara, who came back and raked the eyes of Sky before knocking him off the ladder. Guevara reached up to grab the belt, but Sky pushed the ladder over, causing Guevara to land on the barbwire ladder that was leaning against the ropes. Sky climbed the ladder, but Guevara recovered and raced up the other side. Sky fought him off and pulled the belt down to win the match…
Scorpio Sky defeated Sammy Guevara in a ladder match in roughly 13:00 to win the TNT Championship.
After the match, Ethan Page, Dan Lambert, and Paige VanZant joined Sky in celebrating the title change. Frankie Kazarian walked out while the broadcast team recalled Sky vowing to give him the first title shot if he won this match. Sky and Kazarian slapped hands and then Sky went back to celebrating his win while the broadcast team hyped Rampage and closed the show…
Powell’s POV: An over the top main event that the live crowd enjoyed much more than I did. Sammy’s crazy missed spot was scary. Meanwhile, neither man had a visible wound from the barbwire. I’m not saying they should use real barbwire, but I am saying they shouldn’t bother using fake barbwire because it’s distracting when neither man ended up with a mark on their bodies. And I really could have done without Sammy not even bothering to sell the barbwire ladder spot for more than two seconds.
Overall, the show peaked with the opening match. I enjoyed the first hour more than the second hour, but it was an entertaining show. It was also nice to see them slow down a little bit when they announced the matches for future shows. I will be back shortly with my weekly same night audio review of AEW Dynamite for Dot Net Members (including our Patreon patrons). Let me know what you thought of the show by grading it below.
How do Moxley’s partners know he’s actually there? What about the music/intro video guy? Would they know if he didn’t show up one week? Do they just hope he’ll be there when he’s supposed to be? Maybe he shows up, lets everyone know he’s there, then goes back to the parking lot and waits for his music to hit?
Thegreatestturd thought The Shields entrance was awesome and organic. But now that Mox does it in AEW, “hOw Do ThEy kNoW hE’s ThErE?!”
” Rather, Wardlow picked up what felt like a big win over Archer. Sure, Archer has lost some high profile matches in AEW, but those have been to top wrestlers, so this sent the message that Wardlow is in that upper mix.”
Nonsense. Complete and utter nonsense. Who the hell has Archere beat in AEW, and when did that happen?
He has 2 televised wins in AEW this year and they’re over Serpentico and Kazarian. Before that his previous televised wins were Moxley and Hikuleo, in July 2021, which were IWGP matches on AEW TV that might as well have been in an alternate universe. Before that he beat someone named Chandler Hopkins in June 2021.
You’ve got to go back to February of 2021 for a meaningful win that mattered in the AEW world when he beat Rey Fenix. The stupid YouTube shows don’t matter. He’s a giant jobber on TV and nothing more.
Before you throw your next shit fit, you should probably read what I actually wrote.
Glad they went with the right winner in the street fight. Deeb could be something if they use her correctly.
It’s time to end the Outhouse of Black experiment. CM Meth, Fat Bastard, and Wellness Policy Matthews are trash.
And now we’ve got a shitty spotfest with no rules and people taking turns standing with their arms outstretched while they wait for someone to do a dive onto them.
TheGreatestOne is the Dan Lambert of WWE Marks.
Ricky, please ,I can tolerate Dan Lambert. ThatOne is the biggest fuckwit I’ve seen on a pro wrestling review site.. and I date back to when IGN did wrestling reviews.
@Jason please tell me yer not trying to reason with “thatone”.. like I said, 22 years ago (yep.. before Orton, I’m old).. he’s confused himself… but let’s see if he can get it right…
And For the record I appreciate the work you and those at PWTorch.. to bring pro ‘rasslin to my home… Almost makes me sad that the Vikings suck :P, but as a Carolina Panthers fan.. it could be worse
I enjoyed the main event more than I thought I would, but they need to stop playing hot potato with that title before it becomes as meaningless as the U.S and Intercontinental titles.
Shauny79 – I get the feeling that Cody Rhodes was going to regain and retain for a while, which would’ve been a mistake.. but hey, I’m no insider