By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
AEW Dynamite (Episode 143)
Detroit, Michigan at Little Caesars Arena
Aired live June 29, 2022 on TBS
[Hour One] The Dynamite opening aired and was followed by pyro on the stage. The broadcast team of Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, and Taz checked in and ran through the lineup. Excalibur said Jim Ross would join them for the Blood & Guts match…
Ring entrances for the opening match took place. Justin Roberts was the ring announcer. Orange Cassidy came out with Trent Beretta and Chuck Taylor and had new entrance music. Dan Lambert spoke as he accompanied Ethan Page to the ring and mocked Cassidy’s size. He also told the referee to tell the Best Friends to go backstage. The crowd chanted “Shut the f— up.” The referee complied by sending Beretta and Taylor to the back…
1. Orange Cassidy vs. Ethan Page (w/Dan Lambert). Cassidy put his hands in his pockets to start. Page threw him down and then walked over him. Cassidy popped right up and kept his hands in his pockets while he dropkicked Page.
A short time later, Page suplexed Cassidy and then posed for the camera. Cassidy showed signs of life, but Page booted him him to the floor. Lambert, who had a bottle of orange juice, stood over Cassidy and mocked him with light kicks heading into a picture-in-picture break. [C]
Page went for his Ego’s Edge finisher, but Cassidy countered into a huracanrana. Cassidy went to the ropes. Page faked a knee injury to get the referee’s attention while Lambert grabbed Cassidy’s foot to slow him down. Page powerslammed Cassidy and covered him for a near fall.
Cassidy came back with a Stun Dog Millionaire. Page stuffed a bodyslam, but Cassidy put him down with a DDT for a near fall. Cassidy fired up and raised his fist in the air. Lambert climbed onto the apron. Cassidy walked over and tapped him lightly several times.
Cassidy teased punching Lambert, but took his bottle of orange juice and took a swig. Cassidy ended up spitting the juice at Lambert. Cassidy hit Page with an Orange Punch and then bodyslammed him and pinned him.
Orange Cassidy defeated Ethan Page in 11:00.
After the match, Beretta and Taylor came out and did the thumbs up bit with Cassidy…
Powell’s POV: An entertaining match to start the show. I didn’t expect him to win here, but it is sad that the talented Page isn’t positioned in a more meaningful role.
Excalibur hyped AEW’s daily fantasy sports partner and then an ad aired for their contest…
Christian Cage was interviewed on the stage by Tony Schiavone. Cage had great heat and got an “asshole” chant. Cage said he was asked by upper management to apologize for his insensitive comments about Jungle Boy’s father. Cage said he’s never apologized for anything during his career.
Cage said he’s sorry that Jungle Boy’s entire family isn’t dead, aside from his mother. Cage said the only thing Detroit has going for it is that it’s close to Canada. He pointed out that he was dressed in street clothes even though he requested a match. Cage said he didn’t request the match for himself. Luchasaurus made his entrance wearing all black gear and headed to the ring with cage…
2. Luchasaurus (w/Christian Cage) vs. Serpentico. Serpentico acted fearful of Luchasaurus. Excalibur said Jungle Boy was at home recuperating. Luchasaurus dominated Serpentico and used Jungle Boy’s Snare Trap finisher…
Luchasaurus defeated Serpentico in 0:55.
After the match, Cage had Luchasaurus dish out more punishment by chokeslamming Serpentico at ringside…
Powell’s POV: Cage went from feeling like an odd replacement for Marko Stunt to becoming one of the most entertaining acts in AEW with a heel turn and some mic work.
Schiavone hosted a backstage segment with Scorpio Sky and Wardlow, who had a no-contact agreement. Sky called for a street fight for the TNT Championship next week…
3. Danhausen and “FTR” Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood vs. Max Caster, Austin Gunn, and Colten Gunn (w/Anthony Bowens, Billy Gunn). Caster rapped before the match. FTR were billed as mystery partners and the broadcast team wondered how Danhausen was able to recruit them. They cut to an early PIP break. [C]
Danhausen was worked over throughout the break. Danhausen tagged out and then FTR destroyed the Gunns with multiple suplexes. There was an awkward spot where Austin went for a clunky neckbreaker on Harwood, who was slow to get up.
Harwood tagged Danhausen, who hit Austin with a big boot and then set up for the GTS. Billy tried to run in and was stopped by the referee. Meanwhile, Bowens stood up from his wheelchair and entered the ring with a crutch. Bowens accidentally hit Austin with the crutch and then Danhausen pinned Austin.
Danhausen and “FTR” Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood beat Max Caster, Austin Gunn, and Colten Gunn in 9:35.
Bowens was apologetic to the Gunn Club afterward, but Austin shoved him. Billy tried to make peace and ended up shoving Austin to the mat. Austin and Colten left the ring while Billy remained with The Acclaimed…
Powell’s POV: The Gunns had a rough outing, but fortunately Harwood seemed fine afterward. Can we please get back to FTR working traditional tag team matches? They are arguably the best team in the world and they seem to be working everything other than traditional tag team matches lately. Meanwhile, if Bowens is healthy, here’s hoping The Acclaimed will get a significant babyface push given how over they continue to be with live crowds.
A taped segment aired with Sonjay Dutt, Jay Lethal, and Satnam Singh talking about the ROH Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view on July 23. They called for Samoa Joe to sign a contract to put the ROH TV Title on the line against Lethal…
4. Jade Cargill (w/Kiera Hogan, Stokely Hathaway) vs. Leila Grey for the TBS Championship. Grey’s entrance was not televised. Cargill dominated the match and performed Jaded before getting the three count.
Jade Cargill defeated Leila Grey in 1:55 to retain the TBS Championship.
After the match, Hathaway was about to speak when Cargill ripped the mic away from him. Cargill said she’s tired of the fans and people in the back pissing and moaning. She told Hathaway to get her some real competition next time.
Hathaway said Cargill is fired up and he knows why. Hathaway said Cargill issued an open challenge and someone who doesn’t work for the company accepted. Hathaway said Athena and Kris Statlander are not overlooked, they are just lazy.
Athena and Statlander ran out and were getting the better of Cargill and Hogan. Hathaway spoke to Grey at ringside and then she climbed on the apron and shoved Athena to the mat. Cargill shoved Grey out of the way and then put the boots to Statlander. Grey offered a handshake to Hathaway, but Cargill shoved her hand away and left the ring…
Powell’s POV: Just a quick showcase match for Cargill. I guess now we wait to see if Grey becomes the newest Baddie or if Cargill blowing her off is permanent.
A video package hyped AEW’s return to Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, New York on September 21… [C]
“The Young Bucks” Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson sat backstage on a couch with the AEW Tag Titles. They spoke about how their friends were injured and they don’t have anyone in the back who relates to them. They boasted about becoming the first two-time AEW Tag Champions. Matt said he heard that Yoshi-Hashi and Hirooki Goto wanted a shot at their titles. He said they would meet in a non-title match on Friday’s AEW Rampage…
Excalibur and Taz spoke and then introduced Jim Ross, who joined them on commentary. Meanwhile, Excalibur hyped the following matches for Friday’s AEW Rampage: AEW Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks vs. Yoshi-Hashi and Hirooki Goto in a non-title match, Nyla Rose vs. Toni Storm, and “The Royal Rampage” with twenty wrestlers competing for the first shot at Jon Moxley’s Interim AEW World Championship…
Powell’s POV: So we’re getting WarGames tonight and potentially a 20-man Royal Rumble on Friday? They didn’t really explain the rules of the Rampage Rumble so I’m not sure. It appears to be a two-ring battle royal because the graphic showed both rings (the show will be taped later tonight).
The Blood & Guts cage lowered around the two rings and then the broadcast team set up a video package on the match. The video featured Dean Malenko, Ruby Soho, and Excalibur talking about the Blood & Guts match…
[Hour Two] Excalibur read through the match rules while a graphic displayed them on the screen…
Entrances for the main event took place. The Jericho Appreciation Society came out fist dressed in all red gear with red hats while Fozzy’s “Judas” played… [C] The babyface team made their entrances coming out of the break with William Regal, who joined the broadcast team…
5. Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Eddie Kingston, Wheeler Yuta, Santana, and Ortiz vs. “Jericho Appreciation Society” Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Daniel Garcia, Matt Menard, Angelo Parker, and Sammy Guevara (w/Tay Conti) in a Blood & Guts match. Castagnoli and Guevara started the match. They met in between the rings and Guevara appeared to trip while going for a move. A loud “F— you, Sammy” chant broke out at one point while the broadcast team explained that he was trying to run the clock out until his team received the man advantage. Guevara kissed Conti through the cage. Castagnoli started The Swing.
The third entrant was Daniel Garcia, who broke up The Swing as they cut to a PIP break. [C] The heel duo doubled up up on Castagnoli, who eventually came back by simultaneously suplexing both men. Guevera and Garcia quickly regained offensive control.
The fourth entrant was Wheeler Yuta coming out of the break. Yuta performed a series of German suplexes on both opponents.
The fifth entrant was Jake Hager. Castagnoli and Hager disposed of opponents and then met face to face. There was actually a brief “We The People” chant for Hager’s old gimmick.
The sixth entrant was Jon Moxley, who brought a chair inside the cage and threw it at Hager (who wisely put his hands up). Castagnoli bulldogged Hager onto the chair. Moxley raked Garcia’s face against the cage and then jabbed his head with a fork. Castagnoli taunted Conti by working over Guevara in front of her. Garcia bled from his forehead and took a Hart Attack clothesline from Yuta and Moxley.
The seventh entrant was Angelo Parker, who wanted to leave when he was immediately cornered by his opponents while his partners were down. Parker ran and was eventually caught by Castagnoli. The babyfaces took turns working over Parker with forearm shots. Hager ended up slamming a chair over the ankle and back of Castagnoli.
The eighth entrant was Ortiz, who wore face and head paint. They cut to a PIP break. [C]
The ninth entrant was Matt Menard. Moxley and Parker bled heavily.
The tenth entrant was Santana, who brought a table and a barbwire bat into the ring with him. Castagnoli hit a popup uppercut on Guevara. Moxley jabbed Menard with a fork and then pulled out skewers and jabbed Menard’s head. Menard came up bleeding.
The eleventh entrant was Chris Jericho, who brought his baseball bat with him. Jericho hit Castagnoli with the bat, but Ortiz cut off Jericho and jabbed a chair into his throat. Guevara leapt from the top rope and performed a cutter on Ortiz on the way down.
The twelfth and final entrant was Eddie Kingston, who brought a kendo stick with him. With all twelve men in the ring, the match officially started (meaning the match could end). Kingston tracked down Jericho, who tried to escape, only to have Kingston work him over with the kendo stick.
Kingston pulled out a bottle or rubbing alcohol, but Hager cut him off. Conti shoved the plastic bottle of rubbing alcohol through the cage to Jericho (not sure how it went out). Kingston and Ortiz put Hager through a table that was set up in between the two rings.
Moxley and Yuta pulled out black bags and poured thumbtacks all over one of the rings. Castagnoli pulled the canvas and padding back to expose the boards of the other ring. Moxley dumped Menard onto the tacks. Parker ended up mostly outside the cages because he fit between the structure and was hanging upside down, which was quite the visual with his crimson mask. [C]
Jericho dragged Moxley across the tacks and then rolled him over into the Walls of Jericho. Kingston picked up a bunch of tacks and threw them in Jericho’s face to break the hold. Jericho pulled out a fire extinguisher and sprayed Kingston, who actually had to lean in so that it would hit him.
Conti stoke the key from the referee and opened the cage door. Ruby Soho ran out and fought with Conti. Jericho climbed the outside of the cage and ended up on the roof. Kingston followed while clutching his lower back. Kingston threw punches at Jericho and then bit his forehead. Kingston dropped Jericho with a spinning back fist.
Guevara climbed to the top of the cage. Kingston indicated that he was going to toss Jericho off the cage, but Guevara cut him off. Excalibur recalled Jericho being thrown off the top of the cage during the last Blood & Guts match. Kingston hit Guevara with a low blow and then tossed him off the cage and through tables that were set up at ringside with an AEW tarp over them. The crowd popped huge. [C]
Jericho put Kingston in the Walls of Jericho on top of the cage. Castagnoli climbed to the top of the cage and then booted Jericho in the face. Castagnoli gave Jericho the Swing on top of the cage, but Menard climbed up and stopped it. Kingston and Castagnoli put Jericho and Menard in submission holds. Menard tapped out to Castagnoli’s Sharpshooter to end the match.
Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Eddie Kingston, Wheeler Yuta, Santana, and Ortiz defeated “Jericho Appreciation Society” Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Daniel Garcia, Matt Menard, Angelo Parker, and Sammy Guevara in 46:45 in a Blood & Guts match.
Castagnoli celebrated, but Kingston was unhappy because he wanted to make Jericho submit. Castagnoli and Kingston ended up bumping fists. The other members of the babyface team other than Santana celebrated on top of the cage. Kingston had to be helped up and clutched his back.
The broadcast team hyped the Rampage lineup and the Scorpio Sky vs. Wardlow street fight for the TNT Title for next week’s Dynamite. Ross closed out the show…
Update: Santana was injured during the match and taken to the back which is why he did not appear with the rest of his team at the end of the show.
Powell’s POV: I don’t envy Kingston having to climb down the cage if his back is legitimately hurting. Everyone involved worked really hard and the match lived up to the first part of its name. It was just a wild brawl with a lot of weapons and blood. One negative is that once wrestlers started going to the top of the cage, whatever happened inside the ring was essentially ignored the rest of the way. But the live crowd ate it up and it will be interesting to see how this performs in the ratings tomorrow.
Overall, the show as built around Blood & Guts. The first hour was fairly routine, and the entire second hour was dedicated to the WarGames style match. The broadcast team spoke about Forbidden Door, but there were no highlight packages to put over the replay or even the results of the key matches. I think they should have done more to spotlight the major moments from the pay-per-view, though I am happy to see them turn the page and get back to regular AEW storylines. Of course, I assume we’ll be seeing some ROH stories too as they start the build for the brand’s July pay-per-view.
I will have more to say about Dynamite in my weekly same night audio review for Dot Net Members (including our Patreon patrons). Let me know what you thought of the show by grading it below.
The Bowens healthy knee gimmick and post match with Billy seeming to turn on the Legion of Ass was actually effective. I’m guessing Billy and FTR talked the others into doing the interference and aftermath in a way that made sense and can keep people hooked enough to see what’s next.
Jade Cargill has the potential to be the biggest star in AEW. Cargill v Statlander needs to be their top female feud for the next 3-5 years.
Although I DO pray they give us Cargill vs. Statlander sooner than later, we don’t need them to feud for 3-5 years. Due to the complaint that so many make (the roster is too stacked), a complaint coming from many of the people who get to see Lesnar vs. Reigns for the EIGHTH TIME soon, we can have other women involved, including Athena, Britt, Rosa, Serena, Toni Storm, ect ect.
BUT YES, PLEASE give us Statlander first.
In order to predict the winner of the Royal Rampage try to determine who out of the twenty wrestlers involved is the most competitive looking good in defeat loser, because that’s the type that is typically used for first title defenses.
Britt and Cargill down the road would be good just to witness the clash of colossal female egos.
“So we’re getting WarGames tonight and potentially a 20-man Royal Rumble on Friday?”
Trust fund crackhead booking 101. Even on a show where he does a couple of things right, Tony is there to put something front and center that reminds us he’s a fucking moron.
“There was actually a brief “We The People” chant for Hager’s old gimmick”
Okay I like that recognition by the crowd; sometimes I wonder how the wrestlers don’t at least crack a smirk when hearing that while face to face, since it was Cesaro’s gimmick briefly as well.
This is def not Dusty vs the horsemen. The subtly and creativity are lost.
Eddie Kingston is an old school gem
Kingston deserves better than being the latest person caught in Jericho’s vortex of suck.
PG13 and TGS are the same person and are responding to themselves is the best storyline going
Wargames then a rumble. It feels like the old WWE game where you could play two player gm mode over each show. You just crammed specialty matches on every show to pop ratings and win brand of the year. Might as well write in Archer as the winner because he only seems to pop up nowadays to lose a big time match.