DYNAMITE

February 12, 2020

Kenny Omega . . . proves that he’s able to work a compelling match, without no-selling and a bunch of crazy spots.

Dustin Rhodes . . . gives a Texas-sized ass-stomp to a brash, but talented, young punk.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman . . . shows everyone a glimpse of the greatness that he’s pretty much been destined for, since the company opened its doors.

KENNY OMEGA/ADAM PAGE © vs. FRANKIE KAZARIAN/SCORPIO SKY (AEW World Tag Team Titles)

If Kenny Omega could work like this on a regular basis, then the idea of him being one of the world’s best wrestlers wouldn’t seem so out of place. The match as a whole isn’t really going to turn heads (especially when one knows the standards that FTR would set for tag matches in AEW and ROH), but it’s a relatively simple and fun affair. It starts with each team showing they’re not afraid to get a little underhanded, such as Sky’s kick to Omega’s back from the apron and Omega returning the favor a minute later when he boots Sky in the face to knock him down. Both teams add some crowd pleasing moments as well, like Omega calling for his big dive to the floor and Sky tripping him and stealing his thunder by doing his own dive, and when they all get up Omega is on his feet and dives onto everyone.

The story of the match is Omega’s midsection, which gets weakened when Sky gets his knees up on a moonsault, and at the same time, Kazarian shoves Page off the top (where he was looking to do his own moonsault) to the floor, and SCU gets some time to work over Kenny, while Page is on the floor for an appropriate length of time selling the bump. SCU aren’t overtly heelish when they work over Kenny, but they show some creativity with their offense without doing anything too contrived, Kazarian even digs out a body scissors. And bless him, Omega’s selling is damn near perfect for the rest of the match. He’s great at showing how SCU’s onslaught is draining him. Hell, his first attempt at a comeback with chops shows that it does more to wear down Kenny than it does either Sky or Kazarian. Even the hot tag to Page comes off perfectly, with Omega doing the Ricky Morton roll to the corner to tag and then collapsing from the energy that it took him to do it. Page holds his own for a bit, but Kenny tries to help out before he’s ready and it causes him to get dumped to the floor and for Page to get worked over for a short spell with some good double teams. Kenny blind tags in and hits Kazarian with some of his usual spots while not forgetting about his midsection. He nearly collapses from the running knee and his Dragon suplex doesn’t have its usual snap to it. Kenny can barely stay on his feet after he and Page hit their knee/lariat combo that winds up just barely winning them the match. The only real mark against the match is its lack of a meaningful follow up; rather than using the finish to build up another rematch where SCU can really let out their mean streak, the match is followed by a big melee between a bunch of other teams in order to set up a battle royal to determine the next challengers. ***1/4

DUSTIN RHODES vs. SAMMY GUEVARA

Although this doesn’t go nearly as long, or hit the same level, as Dustin’s PPV match with Cody or the Rhodes Bros/Young Bucks tag match, it’s yet another example of Dustin showing that he’s still got it after all these years. The match is a solid example of simplicity and experience outclassing flashiness and attitude. Sammy can’t get anything going without Jake Hager running interference for him, and when he does, he’s more concerned about showing off than he is winning the match. Contrast to Dustin, who wants to enact revenge on Sammy for his earlier loss, as well as Sammy’s role in his arm being broken. While it’s certainly satisfying for Dustin to pelt Sammy with punches and mow him down with lariats, Dustin also knows the best way to really avenge Sammy is by embarrassing him. There are a couple of moments that seem odd but still work in their own way. The big one being Dustin’s kick out of Sammy’s GTH, but Dustin hadn’t exactly taken a monumental beating before Sammy hits it, and Dustin still puts it over rather well. Sammy is so taken aback by Dustin’s kickout that when he finally remembers to reposition him and go up for the 630, Dustin has recovered enough to cut him off. The other is Dustin using a Canadian Destroyer, but the set up for it makes it seems like a natural (no pun intended) thing for Dustin to go to, and what better way for Dustin to really put the screws to Sammy than by outdoing him in the flash department? Sammy also bothers to actually sell the move, rather than just take it and move right on to the next spot or sequence. And, after that, it’s obvious that Sammy has no chance of winning, and Dustin hits the Final Reckoning and ends the match. Like the tag titles match, this really isn’t going to generate much buzz from a workrate standpoint, but anyone who appreciates simple and effective work and storytelling definitely ought to track it down. ***

RIHO © vs. NYLA ROSE (AEW Women’s World Title)

This is probably the weakest match of the show so far, and even this is still pretty good. They tell a relatively simple story, but they pull it off very well for the most part. The only weak parts of the match are Nyla’s first control segment, when she’s more concerned with toying around with Riho and playing to the crowd. That normally wouldn’t be such a big deal, but Nyla had already lost to Riho in the decision match for the title back on 10/2. They make things a bit worse just after that with Riho’s surprise counter into the crucifix bomb for a near fall. The counter itself is fine, it’s the sort of thing that Riho had been doing throughout the match, but Nyla was way too strong to get taken over quite so easily. But other than those few instances, this is another stellar in-ring performance. It’s Nyla’s power versus Riho’s speed and technique, and they come up with a bunch of creative ways to play off that, from Nyla impressively catching Riho’s dive from the top rope to the floor to Riho’s bridging escape from Nyla’s first pin attempt. Nyla wastes time setting up a table and Riho gets a running start on the apron and uses the table as a ramp to build up speed and hit a dropkick flush to the face.

As the match wears on, both women do a great job selling and showing how much of a toll it’s taking on them both. Nyla gradually ups the level of the big bumps that she doles out, including a big Samoan drop and a DVD off the top, and Riho’s heart is fully on display whenever she fights Nyla off. Some might not like Riho’s use of the snap Dragon suplex, but it comes off fine. Riho’s height and deceptive strength gives her the leverage to believably pull it off, and Nyla puts them over great. Nyla had teased using the One Winged Angel, so it’s fitting for Riho to get angry and respond with her own homage to Kenny. Nyla’s kick out at one after the diving stomp seems a little odd, but it’s another bit that actually works great. Nyla initially looks like a superwoman after the kick out, but she’s so hurt and worn down that she collapses, and Riho goes right back up top for another one. There’s another smart touch when Riho drops the third one and Nyla manages to get her hands up to cushion the blow. Nyla gets her foot on the rope to break up the pin, and it certainly stands to reason that if Riho hit the stomp flush, that Nyla wouldn’t have been able to do that. Riho thinks she’s got Nyla where she wants her and charges for the double knee strike and runs into a spear. And, after Riho had managed to counter and escape it earlier, Nyla finally connects with the Beast Bomb and wins the title. Nyla even continues selling after the match, she’s barely able to hold up the belt and she’s still favoring her head and face from that last diving stomp. It almost makes one feel sympathetic to the plight she just went through for the title; that is, until she audaciously just steps over Riho and reminds everyone who she is and who she’s always been.

MAXWELL JACOB FRIEDMAN vs. JUNGLE BOY

This is fun to watch on its own, but it’s even more interesting with five years of hindsight and knowing what they’d end up doing. The first few minutes aren’t much more than posturing and showing off MJF’s arrogance and JB’s spunkiness, but they keep the crowd interested, and the talk of these two looking like the future of AEW’s main event scene really doesn’t seem that far off. When JB’s back becomes the target, this picks up a few notches. MJF’s offense isn’t exactly high end (aside from the inverted Gory special toward the end), but JB’s selling is so good that it doesn’t seem to matter. Why would MJF need to dig out big guns, when a whip to the corner and a back body drop is more than enough to leave him rolling on the mat in agony? There are a few times that it seems like they’re straying away from it, but it comes back into focus before too long. The main example of that is JB’s first comeback, he surprises MJF with a rebound lariat and after MJF rolls to the floor, JB does a series of suicide dives, the last one is a big somersault over the top onto MJF and JB immediately starts to clutch at his back.

The only altogether odd thing here is JB’s insistence on using the piledriver, which never does work out for him. His back gives out both times that he tries for it, and it gives MJF the opening to take over the match. They somewhat make up for it when JB blocks the superplex and tries for the sunset flip powerbomb, MJF blocks it, but JB’s back holds out enough for him to pull MJF away and hit a running powerbomb for a near fall. It wasn’t exactly the spot he was looking for, but he managed to hit something big, and he did it by taking MJF by surprise. And, just when it seems like JB’s spunkiness is going to start winning out, Wardlow shows up to slip MJF the ring and hand him the win. The ring-assisted punch doesn’t officially win the match for MJF, but it’s directly responsible for it. The match isn’t anything amazing, but it’s remarkably solid, and it makes one wonder how much JB’s career was derailed by that ill-fated heel turn and subsequent return as the Scapegoat.

JON MOXLEY vs. SANTANA

As far as wrestling goes, this isn’t much of a match. It’s more of a brawl, which makes sense, between Moxley’s issues with the Inner Circle as well as Santana wanting to avenge Moxley injuring his eye (which was revenge for the Inner Circle injuring Mox’s eye). The brawling is certainly hate-filled enough, and between their attempts to attack each other’s good eye as well as Ortiz running interference to keep everyone from completely writing off Santana’s chances (Mox’s selling also helped in that department), the crowd mostly gets a good show. Mox’s backslide into Fujiwara armbar is probably the highlight, but, again, the match really isn’t about wrestling. There are a couple of oddball moments, namely Santana’s delayed rolling cutter, where Mox just has to stand there even though he has plenty of time to avoid or counter it. The finish is also more comedic than anything else, which isn’t what they should be shooting for, especially with the match being followed with a hot angle to close the show. But, for the most part, this works for what it’s supposed to be.

Conclusion: A very good TV episode here, with good wrestling up and down the card.