By Jake Barnett, ProWrestling.net Co-Senior Staffer (@barnettjake)
AEW Dynamite (Episode 264)
Salt Lake City, Utah at Maverik Center
Aired live October 23, 2024 on TBS
A video package opened the show that recapped the activities of Jon Moxley and his crew from WrestleDream, Dynamite last week, and Collision. Moxley was shown comparing AEW to a caterpillar becoming a butterfly, and how much sacrifice it will take for AEW to reach its potential. He said what he was doing was all for the greater good. Tony Schiavone referred to this group as The Death Riders on Collision, which would be an upgrade from Blackpool Combat Club.
Outside the arena, Top Flight, The Dark Order, the Conglomeration, and Jeff Jarret’s crew were shown waiting for Moxley to arrive. Excalibur plugged Mark Bricoe vs. Chris Jericho in a ladder war, and Daniel Garcia and Private Party challenging Jack Perry and the Young Bucks in a trios match. We then got some footage of Hangman Page costing Switchblade Jay White the match in the main event last week. Tony Schiavone was shown in the ring, and he introduced Hangman Adam Page to give an interview.
Schiavone asked about Hangman’s motivation for attacking Jay White and Bullet Club Gold over recent weeks. Moxley spoke about those attacks, and said he beat down Austin Gunn so bad he doesn’t even think he remembers his brother’s name. On cue, Colten Gunn jumped Page from behind. He landed a few shots, but Hangman quickly turned the tables and got ready to choke him with a belt.
Jay White and Juice Robinson ran down to the ring to intervene. Jay White was able to land some shots, but Hangman escaped outside the ring and headed towards the back with a visible limp. White told Hangman he can hobble to the back, but he must do so knowing that Jay White has his number. He mentioned he has faced him in the ring 5 times and won 4 of them, and his only loss came from Christian getting in the way. He told Page he hasn’t seen the last of him, and then performed his catchphrase before leaving the ring.
A Sammy Guevara video package aired where he spoke about his destiny, and how it requires him to take on the best. He then pointed to Shelton Benjamin’s debut from last week. Benjamin and MVP responded that when you’re good at something, you never do it for free. MVP said they’ve taken over before, and they’ll do it again.
Guevara made his ring entrance in the arena. He was followed by Shelton Benjamin, who was accompanied by MVP.
1. Shelton Benjamin (w/MVP) vs. Sammy Guevara: Shelton landed a knee to the gut and then tossed Guevara into the air over his shoulder for a hard landing. Guevara landed some chops in return, but got put down quickly by some knees and a snap suplex. Shelton hit the ropes, and Guevara showed his speed by avoiding him and landing a dropkick. Guevara rolled to the apron, and Shelton charged in. Guevara ducked and Benjamin landed on the floor. Guevara then responded with a springboard moonsault. He attempted to follow up, but MVP got in the way. Guevara reloaded, but Shelton caught him and delivered a suplex on the floor…[c]
My Take: A bit of a rapid fire car crash opening to the show. I’m still not sold on the weakest AEW factions being the only ones interested in standing up to Moxley and his Death Riders, but hopefully they can make it work.
Benjamin launched Guevara into the air, and he pancaked down onto the mat. He then delivered a release German Suplex, and Sami sold it like he was out of it. Benjamin followed up with a second suplex, and Guevara played dead. Shelton picked him up, but Guevara surprised him with a roll up for a two count. Guevara landed a kick and sent Benjamin to the floor. He then landed a flip dive to the outside. Guevara attempted a springboard back into the ring, but got caught by Benjamin.
He attempted a suplex, but Guevara escaped and landed a cutter a moment later for a one count. Sami connected with an enziguri and headed to the top rope. He dove at Benjamin, who cut him down with a superkick. Benjamin then followed up with another superkick, and a running knee strike in the corner. He then landed his Exploder Powerslam and got the win.
Shelton Benjamin defeated Sammy Guevara at 10:01
Benjamin celebrated after the match. He will face Swerve Strickland next week. Backstage, Mariah May was shown walking out of the locker room. Renee Paquette asked her why she was leaving, since she had a briefcase, but she said it wasn’t hers. She tossed it down the hallway, and the clothes spilled out everywhere. May said Anna Jay doesn’t belong in the same ring with her. Jay the approached from behind and they tussled until they were separated by officials.
We then got a video package that focused on Ricochet, Will Ospreay, and Kyle Fletcher. In the ring, Tony Schiavone said Kyle Fletcher had something to say, and brought him out to the ring with Don Callis. Fletcher got on the microphone and said he wanted to address Will Ospreay, He said it had been 11 days since he cost him his title, and 11 days since he’s been in the hospital with a herniated disc he doesn’t like to tell anyone about.
Fletcher said the crowd wanted to know why he did it, and he said they were just as responsible as Ospready was. He recalled being called the next big thing in professional wrestling, until Ospreay got there and they started calling him the next Will Ospreay. Fletcher said Ospreay looked, wrestled, and sounded like him, and he took all of that as an insult. He said he was better than Ospreay in every single way. Fletcher recalled a time when he would have been flattered by the comparison. He said when he first joined the United Empire Ospreay had a killer instinct.
Fletcher taunted the crowd, and then brought up Okada and Kenny Omega. He said Okada brought him into New Japan and he stabbed him in the back. Fletcher said Omega left and Ospreay took his place, but he wasn’t ready. He continued and said that Ospreay refused to get out of the way, because he was too selfish to let others succeed. Fletcher challenged Ospready to a match next week, and told him to ignore the Doctors and his family and come back to face him.
He then said that he would defeat him with Tiger Driver after Tiger Driver until his brittle neck crumbled to dust. When he was done, there would be only one star left, and that’s Kyle Fletcher. Callis handed Fletcher a hair clipper and said he wanted to be nothing like Ospreay. He then began to shave his head while he repeated that he was nothing like Ospreay…[c]
My Take: This was a much better promo from Fletcher this week, even if it was a bit long. I don’t know that he has a ton of heat yet, but the effort was there. He’ll need to establish an identity at some point other than being the anti-Ospreay, but this will work in the short term. Shelton vs. Guevara was a decent match with a very predictable outcome.
Footage of Konosuke Takeshita successfully defending his International Title against Josh Alexander, as well as Ricochet making the save for Alexander after the match. Backstage, Ricochet was interviewed and recalled Takeshita screwed him out of the title twice, and told him to show up to face him on Collision. MVP then walked up and handed Ricochet a business card, and complimented him on his suit. Back in the arena, Brian Cage and Lance Archer made their ring entrances. Their opponents went unnamed.
2. Brian Cage and Lance Archer vs. Local Talent: This one was a powerfest from the start. Archer and Cage sent one of the opponents to the floor, and delivered a Powerbomb and Chokeslam combo to the other to win a very quick match.
Brian Cage and Lance Archer defeated Local Talent at 0:44
The jobber team looked like a combination of The Highlanders and The Ascension.
My Take: I don’t mind a squash match occasionally. Archer and Cage look like your typical monster tag team. It’ll be interesting to see how far they go in the tag division with this style of power wrestling.
Chuckie T spoke with Orange Cassidy outside the building. Chuck said that he’s known Orange for 20 years. He doesn’t know if these guys can beat Moxley, none of them ever have. But Orange has, and it was time for him to step up.
Back in the arena, Justin Roberts made ring introductions for the Ladder War Match for the ROH Title. Out first was Chris Jericho, followed by Mark Briscoe.
3. Chris Jericho vs. Mark Briscoe in a Ladder War for the ROH Championship: Briscoe quickly attacked Jericho with a ladder and then some punches. He then knocked Jericho off the apron onto a pair of tables at ringside. Briscoe then followed to the floor and pulled Jericho to his feet. He delivered chops and punches, and gouged at Jericho’s eyes. Briscoe then placed a ladder against the barricade on the floor. He attempted to suplex Jericho onto it, but got reversed.
Jericho then tossed Briscoe into the steps and hit him with a piece of the broken tables. He then retrieved another ladder from under the ring and tried to pull it into the ring. Briscoe sent the top of the ladder into Jericho’s face. Both men battled on the apron near another pair of tables on the floor. Briscoe landed some punches and sent Jericho to the floor. He tried to follow up with a dive, but Jericho moved and Briscoe crashed through the ladder that was placed against the steps.
In the ring, Jericho attempted to climb a ladder, but Briscoe quickly prevented him from reaching the top of the ladder. After some back and forth, Jericho was able to collapse the ladder and hit Briscoe in the face with it, at which point he started bleeding….[c]
Jericho climbed the ladder in the ring as Briscoe scrambled to recover. Briscoe managed to pull Jericho off the ladder and deliver a death valley driver onto another ladder that was setup near the turnbuckle. He then retrieved another ladder from outside the ring and placed it on top of Jericho. Briscoe climbed to the top turnbuckle, but Jericho got up and smashed him with the ladder a few times. Jericho set up the ladder and climbed it against the ropes. Briscoe managed to tip it over and send Jericho into the ring.
He then jumped off with a senton. Jericho pushed the ladder off of himself, but still got hit by the senton. I’m not sure if that was the intended result. Both guys climbed a taller ladder in the middle of the ring. Jericho managed to knock Briscoe down to the floor, and Mark was able to recover fast enough to tip over the ladder and send Jericho into the ropes. Jericho charged at Briscoe into the corner, but ate a ladder instead.
Briscoe set up a table in the ring and placed the tall ladder near the ropes. He then placed Jericho on the table and climbed the ladder. Bryan Keith ran down to interfere, but was chased off by Rocky Romero with a Kendo Stick. Briscoe then climbed to the very top rung of the ladder and dove off with a Froggy Bow. Jericho tipped off the table and his head hit the ladder on the ground. Briscoe followed up with a Jay Driller, and set up the tall ladder.
As he was near the title belt, Big Bill ran down and grabbed Briscoe and chokeslammed him off the ladder onto two tables at ringside. He then placed Jericho on his back and climbed the ladder to deliver the win to Chris Jericho.
Chris Jericho defeated Mark Briscoe at 15:59 to win the ROH Title
After the match, Tomohiro Ishii appeared on the stage, and appeared to be eyeing revenge on Chris Jericho for their previous encounter. A video package was then introduced that showcased Kris Statlander and Kamille preparing for their match. In the arena, Adam Cole made his entrance in street clothes ostensibly for an interview.
Cole asked the crowd if they were ready for story time, but he was interrupted immediately by Roderick Strong, Matt Taven, and MIke Bennett. Strong called MJF an egomaniac and a user, and claimed he used the Adam Cole brand to get the fans to care about him. He then said MJF never checked on Cole when he was hurt, but they did. Bennett piped up and said their friendship was bigger than MJF, and they needed to finish what they started together.
Taven then said the best times of his career were when they were together. Strong then complimented Cole on his hard work to come back from his ankle injury, and said they need to take Max out together. He then said he wanted Max first. Cole said said Roddy was absolutely right, and maybe they should do it tonight. He then invited MJF to the ring to get an ass whooping.
MJF appeared on screen getting a massage. He mocked Cole and said he told him he’d never get his hands on him. MJF then laid out a challenge and said that the first one of them, Cole or Strong, that gets three consecutive wins will earn a shot at MJF at Full Gear. He then mocked himself for making people jump through hoops for a match with him again. Max then said he wouldn’t be showing up until Full Gear so they couldn’t get their hands on him. House of Black is up next…[c]
My Take: At least MJF was honest about the trope of him continually doing the same hurdle jumping exercise every time someone wants to kick his ass. I can’t say I’m all that invested in the idea of Cole eventually splitting up and feuding with the former Undisputed Kingdom members. AEW never made me care much about them in the first place. Jericho and Briscoe had a fun ladder match. Big Bill handing Jericho the title was a bit predictable, but that’s most of Jericho’s storytelling these days.
I’ll predict 620k this week.
So Sammy is a jobber now? Settle in there Rick O’Shea