Good morning, wrestling fans! It’s been a busy week. Give it up for Part 1 of 2, including three lists encompassing all the best wrestling had to offer the last few months and Episode 9 of How I Met Your Puroresu!
Captain Lou is watching King of DDT, AEW is back on the road, and FINALLY — the Thunderdome is about to die.
More tomorrow including Ol’ Dad watching old All Japan, Captain Lou watching new All Japan, and another episode of How I Met Your Puroresu.
Q2 SWEET: Happy Wrestling Land's Best Matches of Q2 2021 - Everybody!
Top 10 WWE Matches of the Month (June 2021) - Dum Dum Daniels
Top 25 AEW Matches of Q2 2021 - Dum Dum Daniels
How I Met Your Puroresu: Season 1, Episode 9 - Robert McCauley
DDT King of DDT Finals (7/4/21) - Captain Lou
Working Man’s WWE TV Review (7/4/21 - 7/10/21) - Dum Dum Daniels
AEW Dynamite Performance Review: Road Rager (7/7/21) - Dum Dum Daniels
Q2 SWEET: Happy Wrestling Land’s Best Matches of Q2 2021
The first quarterly top 10 lists by the Happy Wrestling crew went so well that we’re back for seconds, and I think it’s a good bet we’ll be back for at a minimum two more.
All Japan, New Japan, NOAH, Dragon Gate, DDT, WWE, AEW, Ganbare Pro, Big Japan, Ice Ribbon, Ring of Honor, RIOT, and FREEDOMS are all considered below.
Captain Lou’s Top 10 for Q2 2021
Promotions Watched: AJPW, NOAH, Dragon Gate, DDT
Kento Miyahara vs. Jake Lee – Champion Carnival Finals (AJPW 5/3/21)
Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Masa Kitamiya – Hair vs. Hair Cage Match (NOAH 6/26/21)
Takashi Sasaki vs. Ken Ohka – Fluorescent Light Tubes Death Match (GanPro 4/7/21)
Konosuke Takeshita & Yuki Ueno vs. Kaito Kiyomiya & Yoshiki Inamura (CyberFight 6/6/21)
Kzy vs. Kota Minoura – King of Gate Finals (DG 6/3/21)
Takashi Sugiura vs. Kazuyuki Fujita – GHC National Title (NOAH 4/29/21)
Yuki Ueno vs. Akito – DDT Universal Title (DDT 5/28/21)
Suwama vs. Kento Miyahara – Champion Carnival (AJPW 4/25/21)
Konosuke Takeshita & Shunma Katsumata vs. Jun Akiyama & Makoto Oishi – Ultimate Tag League (DDT 5/27/21)
Kzy vs. Susumu Yokosuka – King of Gate (DG 5/14/21)
BeMcCooley’s Top 10 for Q2 2021
Promotions Watched: DDT, Dragon Gate, AJPW, Ganbare Pro, NOAH, BJW, Ice Ribbon, ROH, RIOT, FREEDOMS
KO-D Openweight Championship: Jun Akiyama [c] vs. HARASHIMA (CyberFight 6/6/21) ****1/2
Hardcore Determination Series: Suzu Suzuki vs Jun Kasai (Ice Ribbon 5/5/21) ****1/2
Konosuke Takeshita & Yuki Ueno vs. Kaito Kiyomiya & Yoshiki Inamura (CyberFight 6/6/21) ****1/2
Fluorescent Light Tubes Death Match: Ken Ohka vs. Takashi Sasaki (Ganbare Pro 4/7/21) ****1/4
Princess of Princess Championship: Rika Tatsumi [c] vs. Maki Itoh (TJPW 4/17/21) ****
King of Gate: Kzy vs. Jason Lee (Dragon Gate 5/21/21) ****
GHC National Championship: Kazuyuki Fujita [c] vs. Takashi Sugiura (NOAH 4/29/21) ****
WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship: Sasha Banks [c] vs. Bianca Belair (WWE 4/10/21) ****
Tournament of Survival 666: Alex Colon vs. Atticus Cogar (GCW 6/5/21) ****
King of Gate: Kzy vs. Susumu Yokosuka (Dragon Gate 5/14/21) ****
Dum Dum Daniels’ Top 10 for Q2 2021
Promotions Watched: WWE, AEW, NJPW
IWGP World Heavyweight Title: Kazuchika Okada [c] vs. Shingo Takagi (NJPW Dominion 6/7/21)
SmackDown Women’s Title: Sasha Banks [c] vs. Bianca Belair (WWE WrestleMania 37 4/10/21)
IWGP World Heavyweight Title: Will Ospreay [c] vs. Shingo Takagi (NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 5/4/21)
NEVER Openweight Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi [c] vs. Jay White (NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 5/3/21)
NXT UK Title: WALTER [c] vs. Tommaso Ciampa (NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver 4/7/21)
Blood & Guts: The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Sammy Guevara, Santana & Ortiz) vs. The Pinnacle (MJF, Wardlow, FTR & Shawn Spears) (AEW Dynamite 5/5/21)
Triple Threat Match – WWE Universal Title: Roman Reigns [c] w/ Paul Heyman vs. Edge vs. Daniel Bryan (WWE WrestleMania 37 4/11/21)
If Reigns Wins, Bryan Leaves SmackDown – WWE Universal Title: Roman Reigns [c] w/ Paul Heyman vs. Daniel Bryan (WWE SmackDown 4/30/21)
NWA Women’s World Title: Serena Deeb [c] vs. Riho (AEW Double or Nothing Buy-In 5/30/21)
AEW World Title: Kenny Omega [c] w/ Don Callis vs. Jungle Boy w/ Jurassic Express (AEW Dynamite 6/26/21)
Top 10 WWE Matches of the Month – June 2021
June 2021 marked some of the last shows WWE aired from the Thunderdome, or at least I hope so. Nothing really stood out as “the best” but there was plenty pretty good.
1. Fatal 5-Way Match – NXT Title: Karrion Kross [c] vs. Kyle O’Reilly vs. Adam Cole vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Pete Dunne (TakeOver: In Your House 6/13/21)
Among many matches this month more about style than substance, I am reasonably sure this was the best: all these fun wrestlers and Karrion Kross went at it with a TakeOver-level motivation if not atmosphere, spots delivered with a reckless abandon but also flowing from one to the next as if they came from a well-oiled — maybe even automated — machine.
2. Hell in a Cell – SmackDown Women’s Title: Bianca Belair [c] vs. Bayley (Hell in a Cell 6/20/21)
Four trips to the refurbished red Hell in a Cell this month, and three of them were pretty good. The best one was this, less a Cell match and more a battle of good vs. evil in front of a cage. Bayley is a psychopath and Belair’s comebacks ruled.
3. Hell in a Cell: Xavier Woods w/ Kofi Kingston vs. Bobby Lashley w/ MVP (RAW 6/21/21)
4. Hell in a Cell – WWE Universal Title: Roman Reigns [c] w/ Paul Heyman vs. Rey Mysterio (SmackDown 6/18/21)
Lashley/Woods and Reigns/Mysterio were both hastily announced but wonderfully straightforward, with bad guys looking like killers and the little guys finding ways to make it credible before it was time to die. Woods took some tremendous bumps and in the era of crash pads and crazy bumps, Reigns powerbombing Rey from inside the ring into the Cell wall stood out as special.
5. Triple Threat NXT Women’s Tag Team Title #1 Contender Match: Io Shirai & Zoey Stark vs. Ember Moon & Shotzi Blackheart vs. Raquel Gonzalez & Dakota Kai (NXT 6/29/21)
The triple threat tag usually stinks but this absolutely ruled, all over the place action with incredible timing that kept the big spots coming, spots all delivered with an extra kick.
6. Winner Takes All – NXT North American Title & NXT Tag Team Title: Bronson Reed [c] & MSK [c] vs. Santos Escobar, Joaquin Wilde & Raul Mendoza (TakeOver: In Your House 6/13/21)
The crowd-pleasing 6-man wasn’t around so much in the last year, but here it was: six fun wrestlers doing a fun bunch of wrestling, with MSK and Legado saving some of their most impressive work together for TakeOver.
7. Money in the Bank Qualifier: Drew McIntyre vs. Riddle (RAW 6/21/21)
Drew McIntyre the WWE Main Event guy isn’t the greatest, but Drew McIntyre the guy in random matches with Sheamus or Riddle always looks like the best in the world. These two lit each other up with strikes so nasty they set the chilly Thunderdome on fire.
8. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn (Hell in a Cell 6/20/21)
Sometimes when you are bound to do this forever, you have a pay-per-view match with somersault sentons to the floor and half-nelson suplexes all designed to put over a guy named Commander Azeez’ new finisher. This was a fun bunch of their greatest hits with an extra nasty kick to the face for the finish.
9. Kyle O’Reilly vs. KUSHIDA (NXT 6/22/21)
It’s a match very much in a vacuum, but it’s still Kyle O’Reilly vs. KUSHIDA headlining WWE TV. One of those matches where a guy grabbed an arm and neither seemed to let go, two guys who clearly love working and beating the shit out of each other.
10. SmackDown Tag Team Title: Rey Mysterio & Dominik Mysterio [c] vs. The Usos (SmackDown 6/4/21)
This hits every beat you’d expect a tag match to hit, but each one (heat, hot tag, finish) was played sublimely: Rey caught with a Samoan drop onto a table to setup the heat, Jey colliding with the corner post to setup the hot tag, and the apron senton by Rey followed by him getting bodied by a superkick to setup the finish. So good.
Honorable Mentions: NXT UK Women’s Title: Kay Lee Ray [c] vs. Meiko Satomura (NXT UK 6/10/21), Tornado Tag Team Match: Tommaso Ciampa & Timothy Thatcher vs. The Grizzled Young Veterans (NXT 6/15/21), Triple Threat Match: Ilja Dragunov vs. Joe Coffey vs. Rampage Brown (NXT UK 6/24/21), NXT Cruiserweight Title: KUSHIDA [c] vs. Carmelo Hayes (NXT 6/1/21), Carmelo Hayes vs. Adam Cole (NXT 6/22/21), Ilja Dragunov vs. Noam Dar (NXT UK 6/3/21)
Money in the Bank Qualifier: Big E vs. Apollo Crews (SmackDown 6/24/21), Johnny Gargano & Austin Theory vs. Pete Dunne & Oney Lorcan (NXT 6/22/21), Cesaro vs. Seth Rollins (Hell in a Cell 6/20/21), Nathan Frazer vs. Rohan Raja (NXT UK 6/17/21), Mixed Tag Match: Bianca Belair & Cesaro vs. Bayley & Seth Rollins (SmackDown 6/24/21), 22. NXT North American Title: Bronson Reed [c] vs. Isaiah “Swerve” Scott w/ Hit Row (NXT 6/29/21)
Last Chance Triple Threat Match: Drew McIntyre vs. Riddle vs. AJ Styles w/ Omos (RAW 6/28/21, NXT Tag Team Title: MSK [c] vs. Joaquin Wilde & Raul Mendoza w/ Santos Escobar (NXT 6/1/21), Ikeman Jiro vs. Tony Nese (205 Live 6/18/21), Zoey Stark & Zayda Ramier vs. Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell (NXT 6/1/21), Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods vs. Randy Orton & Riddle (RAW 6/14/21), WWE Intercontinental Title: Apollo Crews [c] vs. Kevin Owens (SmackDown 6/4/21), Kevin Owens & Big E vs. Apollo Crews & Sami Zayn (SmackDown 6/11/21), NXT Cruiserweight Title: KUSHIDA [c] vs. Trey Baxter (NXT 6/15/21)
Performance Review – Top 25 AEW Matches of Q2 2021
AEW’s April, May, and June followed a pay-per-view that literally ended with a dud. There were good matches here and there and the Young Bucks in particular were kind of on fire, but I am thinking (hoping) the return to the road brings an uptick in quality to the in-ring festivities.
Blood & Guts: The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Sammy Guevara, Santana & Ortiz) vs. The Pinnacle (MJF, Wardlow, FTR & Shawn Spears) (Dynamite 5/5/21)
NWA Women’s World Title: Serena Deeb [c] vs. Riho (Double or Nothing Buy-In 5/30/21)
AEW World Title: Kenny Omega [c] w/ Don Callis vs. Jungle Boy w/ Jurassic Express (Dynamite 6/26/21)
TNT Title: Darby Allin [c] w/ Sting vs. Miro (Dynamite 5/12/21)
AEW World Tag Team Title: The Young Bucks [c] vs. PAC & Rey Fenix (Dynamite 4/14/21)
AEW World Tag Team Title: The Young Bucks [c] vs. Jon Moxley & Eddie Kingston (Double or Nothing 5/30/21)
IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Title: Jon Moxley [c] vs. Yuji Nagata (Dynamite 5/12/21)
AEW World Tag Team Title: The Young Bucks [c] w/ The Good Brothers vs. Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian (Dynamite 5/12/21)
TNT Title: Darby Allin [c] vs. Jungle Boy (Dynamite 4/21/21)
MJF vs. Sammy Guevara (Dynamite 6/30/21)
TNT Title: Miro [c] vs. Evil Uno w/ Dark Order (Dynamite 6/11/21)
Christian Cage vs. Matt Sydal (Dynamite 5/19/21)
Hangman Page vs. Brian Cage (Double or Nothing 5/30/21)
Sting & Darby Allin vs. Scorpio Sky & Ethan Page (Double or Nothing 5/30/21)
AEW Tag Team Title Eliminator: The Young Bucks vs. Hollywood Blonds (Dynamite 5/19/21)
AEW Tag Team Title Eliminator: The Young Bucks w/ Brandon Cutler vs. Eddie Kingston & Penta El Zero Miedo w/ Alex Abrahantes (Dynamite 6/30/21)
NWA Women’s World Title: Serena Deeb [c] vs. Red Velvet (Dynamite 5/19/21)
Hangman Page vs. Powerhouse Hobbs (Dynamite 6/26/21)
Hangman Page vs. Ricky Starks (Dynamite 4/21/21)
MMA Rules Cage Fight: Jake Hager vs. Wardlow (Dynamite 6/18/21)
Handicap Match: Darby Allin vs. Scorpio Sky & Ethan Page (Dynamite 6/18/21)
AEW World Tag Team Title: The Young Bucks [c] w/ Don Callis vs. Matt & Mike Sydal (Dynamite 4/28/21)
Jon Moxley & Eddie Kingston vs. The Acclaimed (Dynamite 5/19/21)
Chris Jericho vs. Dax Harwood (Dynamite 4/14/21)
Allie vs. Tay Conti (Dynamite 4/7/21)
Honorable Mentions: Christian Cage & Jungle Boy vs. Private Party (Dynamite 6/4/21), The Young Bucks vs. PAC & Penta El Zero Miedo (Dynamite 6/4/21), 3-Way Match – AEW World Title: Kenny Omega [c] vs. Orange Cassidy vs. PAC (Double or Nothing 5/30/21), AEW World Title Eliminator Match: Orange Cassidy (Dynamite 5/12/21), AEW World Tag Team Title: The Young Bucks [c] vs. Matt & Mike Sydal (Dynamite 4/28/21)
How I Met Your Puroresu: S1 E9
How I Met Your Puroresu is a series dedicated to providing background information on matches in hopes of broadening horizons. These matches will be no longer than that of a sitcom as to not overwhelm a first time viewer.
Company: Pro Wrestling ZERO1
Show Title: 21st Midsummer Festival
Match: Masato Tanaka vs Fuminori Abe
Stakes: Fire Festival A Block Match
Length: 18 Minutes
Production Date: July 2, 2021
Air Date: July 2, 2021
A rematch three years in the making. The first encounter came on May 3, 2018 at Isami Kodaka’s Pro Wrestling BASARA where Abe made his home the previous year. Only three years into his career at this point, Tanaka was Abe’s biggest opponent to date.
Coming up through the Sportiva dojo alongside the likes of Toru Sugiura (current King of FREEDOM Champion) and Koji Iwamoto (4x AJPW Junior Champion), Abe quickly became a staple across the Japanese indies. After only a year of experience he’d be seen in All Japan Pro Wrestling, teaming alongside Iwamoto in the 2016 Jr. Tag Battle of Glory.
Ultimately, Abe signed with BASARA and by the end of 2017 was challenging the company’s owner for the promotion’s top title. Although unsuccessful, he proved himself worthy of a bigger role and was given the task of Masato Tanaka, ace of Pro Wrestling ZERO1.
The word legend gets thrown around often but it’s one that fits Tanaka perfectly. He started with FMW which led him to ECW before going on to winning titles in places like NJPW, NOAH and DDT. While ZERO1 has been his home for the last twenty years, he’s been featured in every major promotion across Japan, including Dragongate.
The result may have already been written on the wall when a man coming into his 25th year as a pro faced off with someone only three years into his professional career but don’t tell that to Abe. He put forth an incredible effort that earned the veteran’s respect, even in defeat.
Fast forward three years. Abe has since gone on to capture BASARA’s top title, even defending it against Isami Kodaka. Now he’s taking a step into Tanaka’s world of ZERO1 as a participant of the 21st edition of the Fire Festival; a tournament Tanaka three-peated (06-08) and holds the record of most tournament wins at five.
Time has a way of turning its tides. With more experience comes the hardship of the battles. Now someone with six years of experience, who has since gained accomplishments through singles victories, faces off with a man twenty-eight years in the game but who is now staring down the age of fifty. There is no better time than the present for Fuminori Abe to make his mark.
Working Man’s WWE TV Review: 7/4/21 – 7/10/21
I have spent little amounts of energy every week for the past year trying to think of an interesting introduction to the Working Man’s WWE TV Review that didn’t just read this:
The Thunderdome sucks.
Personally, I don’t think I did a very good job.
As WWE returns to the road next week for more questionable pro wrestling activity, they’ll have the benefit of a live audience and I can’t wait.
Why? Because the Thunderdome sucked.
WWE TV Recap (7/4/21 – 7/10/21)
Highlights:
AJ Styles vs. Riddle (RAW 7/5/21)
NXT Tag Team Title: MSK [c] vs. Tommaso Ciampa & Timothy Thatcher (NXT 7/6/21)
Kyle O’Reilly vs. Adam Cole (NXT 7/6/21)
Hit Row’s NXT North American Title Cypher Celebration (NXT 7/6/21)
Roman Reigns and The Usos embrace (SmackDown 7/9/21)
Stuff Happening: Money in the Bank, Great American Bash, Hit Row Cypher, Blair Davenport Debuts, Tegan Nox Returns & Debuts, Shotzi and Toni Storm Called Up, Bayley is Injured
Good Work: Riddle, Bobby Lashley, MSK, Hit Row, Roman Reigns, Bayley, Shotzi Blackheart, Tegan Nox
RAW (7/5/21)
RAW’s getting a little friskier headed into the summer, though maybe I’m just projecting.
Riddle climbing the Money in the Bank ladder because that’s what people do made me laugh. Riddle makes me laugh every week.
The Miz in a wheelchair is a very good manager.
Somebody has to make Ricochet stop, both the jokes and dangerous spots for TV matches with John Morrison.
With Rhea Ripley and Charlotte Flair killing time like it’s midseason on a Netflix Marvel series, other women are at least getting a shot at shine: Nikki A.S.H. and Doudrop have the worst names but have that key attribute where they’re likable.
Mustafa Ali and Mansoor are kind of re-running the Kendrick/Tozawa 205 Live “lessons” feud.
Drew McIntyre cuts promos with the tall tale content of Hulk Hogan but the downtrodden tone of, like, Nick Nolte.
Lucha House Party vs. T-BAR & MACE – a Main Event series for the ages – had its’ third 5-minute match on RAW.
AJ Styles vs. Riddle was a good three-star TV match about foot pain.
Jaxson Ryker & R-Truth vs. Cedric Alexander & Elias with cameos by the 24/7 Title division was not good TV but at least an attempt to get the boys on the show.
Bobby Lashley & MVP vs. Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods was the main event and kind of like the feud. All Mighty Lashley is on a run and Kofi always steps up but it is all very plug-and-play WWE wrestling.
Rating: 2.0 / 5.0
NXT (7/6/21)
This week’s NXT was the Great American Bash, a tribute to when NXT used to awkwardly try and compete with AEW by using intellectual property that Cody Rhodes’ dad popularized.
Good, consistent show.
MSK vs. Timothy Thatcher & Tommaso Ciampa was an awesome match that occasionally called upon the vibes of early TakeOver openers. Inside a traditionally awesome tag structure, Wes (Lee) was especially crisp, Nash (Carter) threw hands, and the whole thing felt like Rey vs. Angle in doubles or something. The 200 or so people inside the CWC were HOT for this one.
Eli Drake vs. Cameron Grimes for the Million Dollar Title was the weakest part of the show, mostly because there’s useful roles for either guy and having them feud seems to cancel that out. Technically competent wrestling, yep.
The Breakout Tournament is this: Ikeman Jiro, Carmelo Hayes, Trey Baxter, Andre Chase, Joe Gacy, Odyssey Jones, Josh Briggs, and Duke Hudson. All are pretty freshly signed with the exception of Hudson, who looks like Wade Barrett re-incarnated but was kept in Performance Center storage for two-and-a-half years.
Io Shirai‘s intangible is “fearless.” So true.
Io and Zoey Stark beat Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell for the NXT Women’s Tag Team Titles after 5 minutes of action and an assist from the returning Tegan Nox, who is the battery girl with the shiniest wizard. All cool but a little busy.
The Hit Row Cypher / North American Title celebration was better than wrestling. The definition continues.
Adam Cole vs. Kyle O’Reilly is a match I became bored of somewhere around WWE but it was probably their best one here, stripped down and all-action with cool Kyle selling that leg. O’Reilly’s backdrop hold was gorgeous.
Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
MAIN EVENT (7/7/21)
WWE Main Event, an everlasting search for newfound aggression.
Veer beat freaking Jeff Hardy, 1-2-3. Byron Saxton’s delivery of how eventful this was was so perfectly pedestrian I can’t even be mad.
Shelton Benjamin vs. Angel Garza had some cool stuff in it: wild flat back bump by Garza on a German suplex, Shelton faking a handshake and hitting a spinebuster. It’s the little things.
Rating: 2.5 / 5.0
NXT UK (7/8/21)
A more nothing than usual episode of NXT UK and then suddenly WALTER/Dragunov II was announced for 2 weeks from now and Moustache Mountain reunited (again) in the main event. Ah Bea Priestley is here now too.
Kenny Williams is using more Jon Moxley moves than you’d expect these days. He cheated to beat Nathan Frazer, who is having Better Than Normal WWE TV matches every few weeks now.
Mark Andrews vs. Lewis Howley was another solid match with impressive flying from the infrequent but ageless Andrews. Howley (of Pretty Deadly, the NXT Tag Team Champions) has those Terra Ryzing feels.
Dave Mastiff is being condescending to Jack Starz and Tyler Bate is entertaining a challenge from Mark Coffey, if you want to know how next week is shaping up.
Blair Davenport is impressive but top gaijin in Japan impressive like Nigel said? I dunno, man. Solid debut. Her and Meiko is gonna be fun.
Trent Seven and Eddie Dennis had a top rope Emerald Flowsion, a Burning Hammer, and interference from the Primate and Tyson T-Bone. Tyler Bate joined Seven to run off the baddies post-match.
Rating: 2.5 / 5.0
SMACKDOWN (7/9/21)
Bayley is out until next year with an injury which means wrestling is a lot less fun for the rest of the year, crowd or not.
Carmella as the replacement to challenge Bianca Belair at the first SmackDown with fans is a choice too – WWE knows their audience. I mean that.
Roman Reigns cut a scary good promo where he went off on Edge as a meaner prime Randy Orton to a sociopathic Bret Hart bringing The Usos together, all in 10 minutes.
King Nakamura and Rick Boogz are the coolest dudes with zero chemistry.
I can’t believe there was another King Nakamura/Baron Corbin match and I think this was the longest one too. There was a brainbuster on a table for some reason.
A couple days after she returned to NXT, Tegan Nox made her debut on SmackDown where she teamed with Shotzi Blackheart and beat the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions. That’s just how it goes sometimes. I don’t think the Shotzi and Ember Moon team had legs, but this was random — neat, but random. Speaking of… Toni Storm is headed to Smack-Dahn too.
Liv Morgan is in the Money in the Bank though I’ll be honest I thought she already was.
Cesaro vs. Seth Rollins was another OK match that isn’t going to touch the one they had with a crowd at WrestleMania, though Cesaro did start bleeding profusely in the middle of it. Rollins qualifies for Money in the Bank and Cesaro continues to be brought back down to the level he was before.
I may be silly but the return of Rey & Dominik Mysterio at the end of the show popped me, especially since it setup them teaming with Edge against Roman and The Usos next week in what is a pretty pitch perfect Escape from the Thunderdome SmackDown 6-man.
Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
205 LIVE (7/9/21)
This week they just had two NXT Breakout Tournament heavyweights beat the remaining 205 fellas.
Josh Briggs vs. Asher Hale went unnecessarily long so The Agents could get a good look at Briggs on both offense and defense but when he was playing a big mean guy it was pretty great.
Grayson Waller says, I don’t need no breakout! He was bested by Odyssey Jones, a guy I like the idea of.
Rating: 2.5 / 5.0
Working Man’s Satisfaction: 58% [-]
Performance Review – AEW Dynamite: Road Rager (7/7/21)
“You know, I grew up loving Greek mythology, Chris…” – MJF to Chris Jericho
The people! THE PEOPLE!! The real people. The actual people. The unruly people. They have all returned to make the pro wrestling I watch every week feel like something other than the village idiot shouting to nobody in particular about nothing at all.
AEW returned to a weekly road schedule (and Wednesday nights) with Road Rager from Miami, FL, a fun show highlighted by the occasional legitimately great thing. Even without legitimate greatness, it was a layup that these two hours would at the very least have some of the best vibes so far this year.
They did.
The World
It’s just a different energy when the people are yelling and the workers are trying.
Cody Rhodes‘ excessive entrance, Malakai Black‘s AEW debut, Lance Archer crushing a troll – these were tremendous things made extra tremendous in front of the people.
They also wasted no time re-igniting the saga that laid dormant all year: Hangman Page‘s reluctant path to Kenny Omega‘s World Championship. Hangman and Omega on-screen together for the first time in a long time had the benefit of a bunch of people that were not just happy to be there but buying what they were selling. I got my ticket to All Out – do you!?
Based on the last year-and-a-half I can’t confidently say whether working your first program in AEW with Cody Rhodes is a good thing for you professionally or not, but freshly released Malakai Black appearing to spin kick Cody and Arn Anderson straight to hell was one of the better moments in wrestling I’ve seen recently. He and Andrade el Idolo seem poised for a similar path of using the AEW platform to prove the losers and haters at WWE wrong.
It wasn’t all treasure. The audio remains suspect and they did a sit-down interview right after an in-ring interview. Chris Jericho and MJF back-and-forth on the mic with a crowd wasn’t so hot either, especially some of MJF’s lines that were so lame I’m thinking it may be some meta heel thing. Maybe that dipshit jumping the barricade killed the mood.
Darby Allin and Ethan Page continued to build their world and there’s both Christian Cage/Matt Hardy and IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Title matches next week too.
Performance: 4.25 / 5.0 (TREMENDOUS)
The Wrestling
Much like the Antonio Inoki/Masa Saito Island Death Match, this was more about the environment than the work.
South Beach Strap Match: Cody Rhodes vs. QT Marshall – For what was started as a pretty neat old school storyline, this felt more about MOVES than any match on the show. They were rewarded for it with a pretty bored crowd. I don’t know for sure that the powerbomb from the top rope killed the whole vibe, but I am pretty sure it did.
Jake Hager, Santana & Ortiz w/ Konnan vs. Wardlow & FTR w/ Tully Blanchard – I enjoyed seeing this on the card more than the actual match, as a pretty cool faction war (plus Konnan!!) setup ended up feeling like an overstuffed Monday Night RAW match.
Matt Sydal vs. Andrade el Idolo w/ Vickie Guerrero – This was pretty basic introductory stuff but was somehow also Andrade’s most alive match since he worked Rey Mysterio and then before that probably NXT. What a run.
Orange Cassidy & Kris Statlander vs. The Butcher & The Bunny – I think there’s plenty of room to weave together male and female stories in AEW and it’s something wrestling could use more of, though it shouldn’t be the only thing going on. Hijinks were followed here by a Kris Statlander 450 splash.
Street Fight – AEW Tag Team Title: The Young Bucks [c] vs. Eddie Kingston & Penta El Zero Miedo – This is what we call a crowd-pleaser. Eddie and Penta had fun with weapons and the Bucks… I don’t know, dressed up for Pride? The workshopping is out of control. The match wasn’t much more or less than many recent in-ring efforts, but as a welcome back sort of thing I think it read the room correctly.
Performance: 3.5 / 5.0 (PLEASANT)
The Entertainment
American Top Team’s Dan Lambert got in the ring to cut a promo about how pro wrestling has gone downhill since the 80s and 90s, to which the fans in attendance and watching at home responded: well… kind of, yeah. Good setup for a beatdown though.
“WE WANT HANG-MAN!”
Evil Uno has always been a quality promo but really brought the DICTION in front of a live audience, providing as ideal a setup for the Omega/Hangman angle as possible. There were a few too many extended promos on this show; bless this one that was quick and to the point.
“Wait a minute – what the..” – fun words in professional wrestling.
Konnan is just a part of the show now!
Performance: 4.0 / 5.0 (UP THERE)
My Favorite Things
Starks Special Security — straight out of his pocket!
Hangman Page’s pause on the Buckshot lariat
Britt Baker straight-up calls out WWE’s Saudi Arabian blood money
Room for Improvement
Make MJF a bad guy, but please don’t make him lame
Why do they think the cold spray is so funny?
Omega’s Lemmy mustache is a lot better than jokes about Bangkok
Happy Wrestling Land Power Rankings
Hangman Page (3)
Kenny Omega (-)
Miro (1)
Darby Allin (-)
Britt Baker (-)
Eddie Kingston (-)
The Young Bucks (NEW)
Ethan Page (10)
Cody Rhodes (NEW)
Jon Moxley (NEW)