By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
AEW Dynamite 5 (Episode 261)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at Petersen Events Center
Aired live October 2, 2024 on TBS
[Hour One] Dynamite 5 opened with a cinematic video featuring Jon Moxley, Pac, Claudio Castagnoli, and Marina Shafir. Pac addressed Wheeler Yuta and said he’s a lion. Castagnoli said he’s the same guy. Shafir spoke briefly. Moxley said he will win the AEW World Championship one way or another and there will be casualties. Moxley said he will officially relieve Bryan Danielson of duty at AEW WrestleDream…
Excalibur, Nigel McGuinness, and Tony Schiavone checked in from their broadcast table on the stage. Excalibur acknowledged the five-year anniversary of Dynamite. He also said there was news regarding Taz that they will get to…
Ricochet made his entrance and was introduced by ring announcer Justin Roberts. Will Ospreay was shown talking with Kyle Fletcher. Don Callis and Konosuke Takeshita showed up. Callis told Fletcher that they needed to talk about last week and then Fletcher walked off with him. Ospreay made his entrance…
1. Will Ospreay vs. Ricochet for the AEW International Championship. The crowd cheered when the bell rang to start the match and there was a brief “holy shit” chant. Schiavone acknowledged the media rights deal that was announced earlier in the day.
Ospreay ended up at ringside and was hit by a suicide dive. Ricochet followed up by performing a huracanrana that pulled Ospreay off the barricade. There were dueling chants for the wrestlers. Ospreay came back with a handspring into a kick. Excalibur ran through the show’s lineup and added Chris Jericho’s TV Time and an announcement from MVP for later in the show.
A short time later, Ospreay went for a springboard move, but Ricochet pushed him over the top rope and then joined him on the apron. Ospreay chopped Ricochet and set up for a Storm Breaker that Ricochet blocked. Both men traded kicks. Ospreay hit an OsCutter and then both men tumbled to the floor heading into a picture-in-picture break. [C]
Ricochet rolled through a 450 splash attempt when Ospreay moved. Ricochet avoided Ospreay’s finisher and hit him with a backslide bomb and a piledriver for a near fall. Ospreay avoided the Vertigo finisher and came back with Stundog Millionaire.
Ospreay went for the Hidden Blade, but Ricochet caught him with a huracanrana. Ospreay came right back with a Styles Clash for a two count. Ospreay hit an OsCutter for a near fall. Ricochet put Ospreay down and then him with a top rope shooting star press for a near fall. A “this is awesome” chant broke out.
Ospreay stuffed another Vertigo attempt and then hit a Poison Rana. Ricochet came right back with one of his own. Ospreay drilled Ricochet with a Hidden Blade and then fell on top of him. Referee Rick Knox counted down the shoulders of both men at 16:55.
Knox explained his decision to Justin Roberts, who announced that the match was a draw. The fans booed loudly. Both wrestlers spoke to one another and then played to the crowd while signaling for the match to be restarted. Roberts announced that Tony Khan informed him that the match would continue.
Ospreay hit the Hidden Blade on Ricochet after a brief battle. Konosuke Takeshita attacked Ospreay for the no-contest finish.
Will Ospreay fought Ricochet to an apparent no-contest in roughly 17:40.
After the match, Takeshita put Ospreay down and then hit his Raging Fire finisher on Ricochet. Takeshita went to ringside and returned with the AEW International Title belt, which he held up while the fans chanted “asshole” at him. Takeshita placed the belt between Ricochet and Ospreay…
Powell’s POV: The match was strong until the weak finish. I guess the idea was to soften the blow by going with a shitty draw finish before following it up with the interference finish? If nothing else, the live crowd wasn’t nearly as negative about Takeshita running in as they were the draw.
Backstage, Renee Paquette interviewed TBS Champion Mercedes Mone, who had Kamille at her side. Mone set up a video package she said she had the production crew put together for the anniversary. The video package consisted of Mone highlights. Mone said the video package was amazing. Mone said money changes everything.
MVP showed up and said, “Yes, it does.” MVP handed Mone his business card before exiting. Mone and Kamille both checked out the card…
Highlights aired of Chris Jericho beating Tomohiro Ishii on the November 23, 2022 edition of Dynamite. Excalibur hyped the TV Time segment coming up after the break… [C]
Backstage, Renee Paquette interviewed Austin Gunn and Colten Gunn about Juice Robinson’s match. Robinson’s opponent Hangman Page showed up and attacked the Gunns with a chair…
Big Bill stood inside the ring in front of the TV Time set. He mentioned the anniversary and said we can all agree that we’ve all become better people thanks to Chris Jericho, who made his entrance with Bryan Keith.
Jericho issued congratulations for five years and the new television deal the company signed. Jericho looked into the camera and said they made a lot of experts look like idiots. Jericho said there wouldn’t even be an AEW without him. A “thank you, Chris” chant broke out.
Jericho noted that it was the 34th anniversary of his debut match. Jericho acted like he screwed up in saying they were in Philadelphia and then corrected himself. Jericho noted that he headlined a sold out Arena Mexico and then beat Mark Briscoe.
Jericho said The Ocho was gone and it was time to bring on The Nueve. Jericho challenged Mark Briscoe to a match for the ROH Championship at the AEW WrestleDream pay-per-view. Jericho asked Briscoe if he accepted.
Mark Briscoe made his entrance with Orange Cassidy, Kyle O’Reilly, and Rocky Romero. Briscoe said he could make the excuse that he had Jericho’s ass beat at Grand Slam and that the only reason he got the victory was due to Big Bill. Briscoe said it was a tornado tag match and Jericho did pin him.
Briscoe said Jericho has been one of the most influential and finest pro wrestlers on the planet for the last four decades. Briscoe said he would love to put the Jericho notch in his belt. Briscoe said the word of the day was consequential because now he gets to put a legendary head on his wall.
Jericho said he didn’t think Briscoe could beat him. “Maybe your brother Jay could have,” Jericho said for easy heat. “But everybody knows that you’ll never be as good as Jay was.” Briscoe dropped Jericho with a punch.
Briscoe told Jericho to get his brother’s name out of his mouth. Briscoe said Jericho will get a Briscoe Brothers style ass whopping. Briscoe accepted the challenge and said that what happened to Jericho was consequential…
Powell’s POV: I’m not a fan of the cheap heat of bringing up the late Jay Briscoe, but to be fair it’s not really any different than Christian Cage bringing up the deceased fathers of various wrestlers.
A Darby Allin video aired with him sitting on a car at an undisclosed location. He recalled riding a bus when he felt something hit the back of his head. He said he turned around and discovered three men laughing at him after they spat on his head.
Allin said he got in the face of one of the men, who held up a switchblade and asked him what he was going to do. Allin said he said it looked like he was going to get stabbed. Allin said the fight was broken up quickly, but it felt good to stand up for himself.
Allin said you live by the sword and you die by the sword. He said he put everything on the line against Jon Moxley because he was fixated on proving him wrong. Allin said people are losing faith in him and he’s starting to lose faith in himself. Allin asked what else he would do besides fight. Allin issued an open challenge for WrestleDream. Allin got fired up and told someone to step up…
Powell’s POV: Another good promo from Allin. I like that he tried to explain why he agreed to put his title shot at stake. Then again, I seemed to be in the minority on that one because I felt like it was true to Allin’s character to throw caution to the wind and accept the match despite the lopsided stipulation.
Hangman Page made his entrance. Juice Robinson’s entrance followed. Page met Robinson on the stage and they fought. Page put Robinson down, but Robinson got up and caught him with a kick. Robinson pulled a strap out his ring jacket and hit Page with it.
Page rolled off the stage. Robinson jumped toward him, but Page hit him. Page barked at referee Aubrey Edwards to shut her ass up. Page whipped Robinson with the strap a few times. The wrestlers fought up the steps and into the crowd. Robinson slammed a popcorn bucket over Page’s head. Both men ended up at ringside and the match officially started once they were inside the ring…
2. Hangman Page vs. Juice Robinson. Excalibur mentioned the story that Taz was attacked in the parking lot prior to the show, which led to McGuinness replacing him on commentary. They cut to an early PIP break. [C]
Robinson superplexed Page coming out of the break. McGuinness said he said “thank you” to Tony Khan and to professional wrestling at the end of his match with Bryan Danielson for all the experiences he’s had. When one of the announcers said it was a great match, McGuinness replied, “You’re welcome.”
[Hour Two] Robinson got Page against the barricade and hit him with a cannonball that led to the barricade breaking. Back in the ring, Page came back with a fallaway slam in the corner.
A short time later, Robinson avoided the Deadeye and then grabbed Page from behind. Page grabbed the referee and then hit Robinson with a low blow kick. Page followed up with the Buckshot Lariat and scored the pin.
Hangman Page defeated Juice Robinson in 10:05.
After the match, Page removed his belt and put it around the neck of Robinson. Page tossed Robinson over the top rope and hung him with the belt. He was interrupted by entrance music after only a few seconds.
Jay White’s entrance music played, causing Page to look at the stage. White entered the ring from the other side and worked over Page, who left the building and then exited through the crowd. White hopped the barricade and worked over Page in the crowd. White drove Page through a table that was conveniently leaning against a piece of barricade. White helped Robinson to his feet and to the back…
Powell’s POV: It’s nice to see White back, and I assume that this means he’s a babyface given that Page has been one of the top heels in the company.
Paquette stood in the parking area. TNT Champion Jack Perry arrived in his bus. Katsuyori Shibata approached him and challenged him to a TNT Title shot at WrestleDream through his tough to hear phone translator. Perry said he would think about it and started to walk way. Perry turned around and attacked Shibata and then accepted the match…
Footage aired from the October 2, 2019 Dynamite of Jon Moxley putting Kenny Omega through a glass coffee table… Excalibur hyped the main event… [C]
Powell’s POV: It’s nice to see AEW use some older footage to help make the anniversary show feel special.
Footage aired from the December 15, 2021 edition of Dynamite with Bryan Danielson fighting Hangman Page to a draw…
AEW World Champion Bryan Danielson stood backstage wearing a Dynamite 5 t-shirt. Danielson said he’s had one sentence running through his head all day long. “F— Jon Moxley,” Danielson said while being censored. Danielson said the belt doesn’t belong to him or Moxley, it belongs to AEW.
Danielson said it’s been five years and they’ve broken the entire system that wrestling was built on. Danielson AEW is where the best wrestle and that’s why he challenged Kazuchika Okada. Danielson said they would find out who the best is. “AEW, this is for you,” Danielson said…
Britt Baker made her entrance via the main floor while wrapped in a Pittsburgh Steelers full body sized terrible towel. Footage aired of Baker’s match against Thunder Rosa on March 17, 2021. Serena Deeb made her entrance and brought her flag to the ring with her…
3. Britt Baker vs. Serena Deeb. Deeb put Baker down with a clothesline heading into a PIP break. [C] Baker put Deeb down with a sling blade clothesline and followed up with a fisherman’s neckbreaker that led to a two count.
Excalibur plugged next week’s Dynamite for Tuesday at 8CT/9ET on TBS and billed it was a Title Tuesday edition.
Deeb came back and went for the stretch muffler, but Baker countered into a pin for a two count. Deeb rallied with a German suplex. Baker popped right up and threw a superkick, but Deeb put her down with a clothesline. Deeb set up for her finisher, but Baker countered into an Air Raid Crash.
AEW Women’s Champion Mariah May was shown watching the match in the crowd. Baker covered Deeb, who hooked her into a pin for a two count. Baker went for her Lockjaw finisher, but Deeb avoided it and applied a single leg crab. Baker kicked her way free. There was a clunky exchange in the corner that led to a Deeb kick.
Baker caught Deeb on the ropes and hit her with an avalanche Air Raid Crash for a near fall. Baker applied the Lockjaw and got the submission win.
Britt Baker defeated Serena Deeb in 11:35.
Baker’s parents were shown cheering afterward. Deeb attacked Baker from behind and put her in a half crab. Queen Aminata ran out and made the save…
Powell’s POV: A good portion of the match took place during the PIP break and somehow it still felt like it went longer than it needed to.
Highlights aired from the January 17, 2024 edition of Samoa Joe beating Hook to retain the AEW World Championship…
Hook was interviewed by Paquette in the backstage area. Paquette asked him about what happened to Taz. Hook was upset and said he would find who did it and said he’s coming for that person…
Backstage, Christian Cage delivered a promo and boasted that he is the next AEW World Champion and your father figure. Cage he will soon have it all hook, line, and sinker… [C]
Highlights aired of Kenny Omega vs. Bryan Danielson on the September 22, 2021 edition of Dynamite…
Backstage, AEW Women’s Champion Mariah May was interviewed by Paquette. May said Willow Nightingale is the definition of failing up. May mentioned that Willow is getting a title shot. Willow showed up and told May to talk to her if she has a problem. May pie-faced Willow. Christopher Daniels and security quickly intervened…
Private Party made their entrance while highlights aired of their win over the Young Bucks on the October 9, 2019 edition of Dynamite. The Iron Savages were already inside the ring…
4. “Private Party” Marq Quen and Isiah Kassidy vs. “Iron Savages” Bronson and Boulder (w/Jacked Jameson). Stokely Hathaway was shown watching the match on a backstage monitor. Private Party hit Gin and Juice on Bronson and then Quen pinned him. McGuinness said their decisive win would go a long way toward putting them in title contention.
“Private Party” Marq Quen and Isiah Kassidy defeated “Iron Savages” Bronson and Boulder in 1:05.
Afterward, Kassidy took the mic and recalled saying “new year, new champs” on the first edition of Dynamite of 2024. Kassidy said they meant every word. He said he doesn’t care if his hand and shoulder are messed up and Quen just returned from a pec injury, they will be the new champions. Kassidy said they beat the Young Bucks once and promised they could do it again. Kassidy was censored as he called out the Young Bucks for a match.
AEW Tag Team Champions “The Young Bucks” Matthew Jackson and Nicholas Jackson’s entrance theme played. The Jacksons were sitting on steps. Nicholas said you couldn’t have a five-year anniversary without the two guys who built the company. Matthew teased putting their titles on the line. The Jacksons walked toward the ring, then Matthew said they have limited dates and weren’t going to waste any on Pittsburgh.
Jack Perry attacked Private Party in the ring. The Jacksons joined in on the attack. Katsuyori Shibata ran out while his entrance theme played and that led to The Elite members scurrying to ringside.
Christopher Daniels came out and booked Private Party and Shibata vs. Perry and The Young Bucks for Friday’s Rampage (oh, joy)…
Highlights aired from the April 3, 2024 edition of Dynamite of the Samoa Joe and Swerve Strickland contract signing…
MVP was interviewed by Paquette on the backstage interview set. MVP was about to make his big announcement when Prince Nana showed up and took issue with what MVP said to him last week. Nana said people forget he used to be a wrestler and offered to face him in Pittsburgh. MVP said he doesn’t take complaints and then added “He does.”
Shelton Benjamin was shown standing behind Nana. MVP introduced Benjamin as his business partner and the president of their complaint department. Benjamin took Nana’s coffee cup, took a swig, and told him that it was pretty good coffee…
Powell’s POV: The crowd popped big when Benjamin appeared on camera. Two down, Bobby Lashley to go?
A brief Brodie Lee video package aired… Excalibur hyped the main event for after the break… [C] Highlights aired of MJF beating Will Ospreay on the July 17, 2024 edition of Dynamite…
AEW Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada made his entrance. Excalibur explained that Okada’s title would only be on the line for the first 20 minutes of the match, while the AEW World Championship would be on the line from bell to bell. Bryan Danielson made his entrance…
5. AEW Champion Bryan Danielson vs. AEW Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada for both titles (Okada’s title is only on the line for twenty minutes). The match started roughly six minutes before the top of the hour and fans cheered once the bell rang. They cut to a PIP break a few minutes into the match. [C]
[Overrun] Later, Okada booted Danielson over the ringside barricade. Okada pulled Danielson over the barricade, but then Danielson whipped him into hit. Danielson broke the count and then ran Okada into the barricade and dropkicked him before rolling him back inside the ring.
Danielson sent Okada back to the floor and then hit him with a suicide dive. Back in the ring, Danielson hit Okada with a missile dropkick. Danielson threw kicks at Okada, who ducked the finale and rolled him up for a two count. Both men traded pin attempts.
Both wrestlers traded slaps in the middle of the ring. Okada ran Danielson into the corner, but Danielson ran up the ropes and backflipped over him. Okada put Danielson down with a dropkick. Okada bodyslammed Danielson and went up top and hit an elbow drop.
Okada flipped off the hard camera. Danielson put Okada in the triangle and hit him with elbows to the head. Danielson hooked Okada in a submission hold. Okada reached the bottom rope with his foot. Danielson hit Okada with a Busaiku Knee.
Okada ended up at ringside as they passed the 20-minute mark, meaning Okada’s title was no longer on the line. McGuinness hilariously said the crowd was turning on Danielson for not being able to win in 20 minutes.
Danielson performed a springboard flip dive from the top rope onto Okada on the floor. Danielson ran Okada into the barricade and charged him, but Okada hit him with a tombstone on the floor heading into a PIP break. [C]
Excalibur said they had taken their final break and the rest of the show would air without commercial interruptions. Danielson had Okada down when he grabbed his hands and stomped him several times. Danielson led the “yes” chants in the corner.
Danielson waited for Okada to stand up and then went for the Busaiku Knee, but Okada sidestepped him and hit him with a Rainmaker clothesline. Okada was unable to make the cover. Both men got to their knees and traded elbow strikes that continued as they got to their feet. Okada got the better of it and yelled at Danielson, who fired up.
Danielson threw a series of rolling elbows at Okada, who then caught him with a boot and German suplexed him. Danielson landed on his feet and hit a knee strike, but Okada shot out of the corner and connected with one of his own for a near fall. Danielson hit a big clothesline and covered Okada for a two count.
Danielson threw elbows. Okada stood up and hoisted up Danielson and slammed him neck first on his knee. Okada picked up Danielson and put him down with a short-arm clothesline.
Pac and Claudio Castagnoli both showed up in the crowd right behind the ringside barricade. Okada spotted them and was distracted. Danielson used a backslide to pin a distracted Okada.
Bryan Danielson defeated Kazuchika Okada in 31:45 to retain the AEW World Championship.
After the match, Okada grabbed Danielson and hit him with a Rainmaker. Okada flipped off Castagnoli and Pac and then stormed to the back. Castagnoli and Pac hopped the barricade and entered the ring. Castagnoli and Pac got Danielson on his knees and held him.
Jon Moxley showed up with Marina Shafir. Moxley had a mic. “Do you think this is about me?” Moxley asked. Moxley said none of it was about him and he’s fighting for something much bigger than himself. Moxley said if any of it was about him, he would have put Danielson out of his misery years ago.
Wheeler Yuta showed up with a hammer in his hand and chased Castagnoli and Pac to ringside. Moxley confronted Yuta. Danielson tacked Moxley. Castagnoli and Pac returned and went after Yuta. Danielson and Yuta cleared the ring.
Yuta took the mic and told Castagnoli and Pac that he was tired of them treating him like a child. Yuta said if they want to get to Danielson, they would need to go through him on Title Tuesday. Danielson picked up the mic and said it would be him and Yuta against Castagnoli and Pac. Danielson led “yes” chants.
Excalibur said Tony Khan had made the match official. He thanked the fans for five years and for many more years to come. The show ended 31 minutes after the top of the hour…
Powell’s POV: Obviously, Danielson and Okada work really well together. But go back and listen to the crowd reaction to their Forbidden Door match and even their Wrestle Kingdom mach and compare it to the reaction they received during this match. Yes, Pittsburgh has been a tough crowd over the years, but this particular crowd was actually very lively early in the show. They were into the main event, but it just didn’t feel nearly as big as their previous matches. Okada is in an especially rough place creatively, and the silly stipulation regarding the 20-minute mark made it feel obvious that Danielson would win after they passed that point. And even then it was a weak distraction finish.
Overall, AEW did a nice job of creating the anniversary show vibe by showing some older clips, which is something they’ve failed to do on other milestone shows. Sadly, the show was built around two big matches that both had lousy finishes. And rather than forward the Moxley and crew storyline, they used the post match angle to set up a tag team match for next week’s show built around whether Yuta will truly stand by Danielson. Yawn. This would all would have been bad enough on a standard show, but I think viewers expected and deserved better from the Dynamite fifth anniversary show.
I will be back later tonight with my weekly same night audio review of Dynamite with thoughts on the AEW media rights deal exclusively for Dot Net Members (including our Patreon patrons). Let me know what you thought of Dynamite 5 by grading the show below.
AEW’s biggest draw is Sheldon. Shelton however is gonna be another story. Young Sheldon and Old Shelton
Ospreay and Richochet did zero pro wrestling and then had a moronic finish on top of it. When will these idiots realize they’re supposed to be simulating a fight instead of doing some shitty tandem gymnastics routine?
And Meltzer laughably called NXT women out for this but applauds it in AEw.
So the Callis Family showed up to the building and left for a flight before the show started? I know Callis could’ve been lying but that’s a stupid lie. I’m not one who is hypervigilant on everything making sense, but come on, that’s amateur hour.
TK did the draw and re-start just so he could get cheered for having it continue.
Why are they still trying to make Wheeler Useless a thing? It’s so predictable he’s going to turn on Danielson
In all matches tonight involving a heel, the heel attacked the face every single time after the match. Is there not anyone there who could have an oh so genius light bulb moment of “Hey, this might water down post-match heel attacks.” ??
And no one GAF about who Yuta sides with.
I know it was a typo,but MVP beating Ospreay would be hilarious.
Terrible finish to the opener, and it felt to me like they never got the crowd back. AEW was started as an alternative to WWE, and for the fifth anniversary of Dynamite, their dream match ended with a Vince McMahon finish from 2015.
The “haters” must be happy because they’ll have another 3 years or more to watch AEW and come on here to jerk each other’s egos off. What a sad and pathetic life some lead. Love the complaining to some of the matches, yet these people don’t show up to complain about another predictable Bloodline match DQ finish over the last three years. Have fun, children!
Yep, we get at least three more years of TheStone doing his basement typing.