MJF’s Bald Fate Haunts Him, Will Osprey has Some Explaining to Do, Darby’s Reign Continues to Heat up

With Double Or Nothing around the Corner, it’s time to check in and see how the pieces are coming together. We kick off Dynamite with Renee interviewing a disgruntled MJF about his upcoming hair vs title match against Darby Allen. The bit here becomes quickly apparent as MJF begins to discuss what it means to put his hair on the line. Suddenly, every bald person in the company begins walking by in the background, from referees Rick Knox and Bryce, to security, to Ciampa, John Silver, Ricochet, and even just random extras. MJF is being confronted by his possible bald fate, and both the sheer amount of bald people in this segment and MJF’s reaction make this bit incredible.

Ten Man Tag Match: Tomasso Ciampa, Clark Connors, & FTR Vs. Orange Cassidy, The Young Bucks, Adam Copeland & Christian

Our first bout is a chaotic brawl that’s part preview tag for the upcoming FTR vs Cope and Christian I Quit match, part future TNT title matchups, and part pure mayhem. I said it once, and I’ll say it again if theres one thing you can count on from AEW, it’s getting right into the action to start the show. Theres some solid stuff in this match, but honestly, one of the highlights has to be watching Christian Cage simply living the dream. The Guy has to have one of the best deals among over-50 wrestlers. He just walks out, makes fun of people’s dead dads, and if he has a match, he just kicks a dude in the balls, a couple of holds here and unprettier there, and cashes his check. Gotta love it. The face team ends up getting the dub here, and the momentum favors Cope and Cage ahead of their upcoming tag team title match.

Next, we have a storyline that is spanning continents at this point, as we once again get to look in on the Deathriders’ training camp with their new recruit, Will Ospery. For anyone also following New Japan, you’ll know that this has had consequences as Osprey created a stable in New Japan called the United Empire, and Callum Newman, the recently crowned IWGP champion, has been boldly questioning where Osprey’s allegiance lies. The two had a major confrontation backstage at Wrestling Dontaku, where Callum tried to Bitch Osprey in front of the entire squad, and things looked like they were about to get out of hand. In the end, Osprey was able to convince Callum that his training with the Deathriders is just a means to an end. However, as we watch these segments, it seems Osprey is looking more and more comfortable with the Deathrider crew.

Following this up is a promo package for the upcoming Stadium Stampede match, which, who knows, could end up being a surprise hit match, but on paper, this whole Jericho/Ricochet feud feels like a lose-lose in my opinion. Jericho was practically boo’ed off the air, took some time away, and to AEW’s credit, the time away has seemed to work in terms of not having Jericho boo’d, no matter heel or face, or even worse, having apathetic reactions from the fans, but to me, this feud is the worst thing we could possibly return with because it gets nobody over. If Ricochet beats Jericho a bunch of times, it means nothing. There’s no title on the line, and he beat an aging Jericho, big deal. Meanwhile, Jericho is already exposing Ricochet’s mic skills again, and then beating him just kills any momentum Ricochet was building. The call back to Ricochet and the Hurt Syndicate is pretty interesting, and there seems to be something brewing with Mark Davis, Ricochet, and Jungleboy Jack Perry, who all have history with the National Title. Kenny being in this is super random, but sure, why not? At the very minimum, I feel the Stadium Stampede is always designed for Jericho to lean in on hilarious antics rather than in-ring work, which means that hopefully they can at least make some viral entertaining moments out of this before we move on to something else.

Speedball Mike Bailey Vs. Westbrook (Jobber)

Our second match of the night is the latest of the Speedball Jobber Open Challenge, where Mike Bailey has been getting in some reps against local indie talent and boosting up the win column. Unfortunately for Westbrook, theres a huge botch in the first 30 seconds of the match that can only be blamed on themselves, as they try some sort of maneuver on the ring ropes that completely fails, but they laugh it off pretty well, at the very least. Luckily theres not much time to reflect on it as mere seconds later, Speedball hits the Ultima Weapon, and we’re outta there moving right in to the

Kevin Knight TNT Open Challenge Vs. Brian Cage

Not content to let the other half of Jetspeed Speedball, Mike Bailey, have all the fun, The Jet, Kevin Knight, immediately steps up to defend his title against none other than Brian Cage, who looks like the after-photo for a PSA on Steroid use, but hell, if he did this clean, good for him. The match kicks off, and it’s unsurprisingly a David vs. Goliath-esque match-up with Kevin Knight seemingly throwing everything he has at the freak of nature Brian Cage, with most of Knight’s offense just bouncing off Cage or having very little effect. At one point, Kevin Knight lunges over the top rope, and you’re like, okay, this has gotta do something right? and nope, Brian Cage just scoops Knight outta the sky. Ironically, this leads to Kevin’s first opening as he counters and throws Cage into the steel steps. Speedball and Lance Archer get into a scuffle ringside, and this gives an opening to Kevin Knight to get some offense, and after hitting the UFO, Kevin Knight survives Brian Cage and retains his title. Fresh off their victories, both Speedball and Kevin pat each other on the back and cut a promo congratulating each other. Speedball then calls his shot and says he wants next after the Darby Konosuke Takeshita Title match later tonight.

Back from commercial, and we get a peek at the Owen Hart Foundation Men’s tournament featuring Samoa Joe Vs. Will Osprey, Mark Davis Vs. Jungle Jack Perry, Claudio Vs. Brody King and Swerve vs Bandido.

Then we switch Gears to Jack Perry, who cuts a promo against Mark Davis for the just-announced Owen Hart tournament match, as well as the upcoming Stadium Stampede match. Jack makes some good points, and the biggest of all is that Mark Davis is a big motherfucker, and he still needed somebody (Rico-Bald) to interfere and hit him over the head with a golf club in order to win. Jack promises to return the favor at Stadium Stampede, and we shall see how it plays out.

Will Osprey Vs. Ace Austin

Back from a mini tour in Japan for Wrestling Dontaku, Osprey is ready to pick things back up in AEW. Against him is Ace Austin, who has all the talent in the world and finds himself in an interesting position. In TNA, he was on half of ABC with Chris Bey, and they were one of the hottest tag teams in the company, hell, maybe even all of wrestling at the time, until Chris Bey had a horrific injury that had many wondering if he would ever walk again. Luckily, Chris is making more and more progress, but suffice it to say Ace has had to forge a path on his own. Now signed to AEW, the sky is the limit; however, his biggest issue is not that his in-ring ability isn’t up to par or even his mic skills, his biggest problem is simply that the AEW roster is so stacked at this point, I think it’s going to be very difficult for him to stick out. The story of the match, however, is Osprey little by little showing his new moveset and attitude, courtesy of the recent Deathriders training camp. What transpires is an absolute banger, with Ace Austin living up to my hype and a subtle story told where many of Osprey’s traditional moves are countered by Ace Austin, with the more vicious technical maneuvers being what really does damage to Austin. In that vein, it should be noted that Ospery doesn’t win with the Hidden Blade, but instead he wins it with a cross armbreaker, no doubt influenced by the Deathriders. Great stuff

After the match, the Opps, Samoa Joe, Shibata, and Anthony Bowens arrive, and Samoa Joe cuts a promo attempting to put the fear of God in Will before their upcoming match at Double at Nothing. Samoa Joe says that his beef with Will stems from his recent association with the Deathriders and, as such, sends Bowen and Shibata after Will. Osprey claims he’s not a deahrider, but guess who comes to help out Osprey in his time of need? None other than Mox, Daniel Garcia, Pac, Claudio Mox, and Marina arrive. The Opps took a look at the numbers and decided to bow out.

Backstage, Renee interviews Konosuke Takeshita and Don Callis about his upcoming title shot against Darby Allin in the main event. Before they can get into that, however, they are interrupted by MJF, who is politicking for a title shot should Konosuke Takeshita upset the champion. MJF pleads with Don to make sure that Takeshita wins tonight, but meanwhile, Andrade shows up and sends MJF heading in the other direction. Small note: I will say that Andrade’s catchphrase, “How you know,” may be the best thing we’ve done with his character.

Back from commercial, and now it’s time to peek at the Women’s Owen Hart tournament bracket, and we got some great additions. Saree and Hazuki will be joining from Stardom, Persephone, who has absolutely been tearing it up in CMLL, as well as Athena, Willow Nightgale, Alex Windsor, and Mina Shirakawa, should be some great matches.

We then cut to Renee interviewing the Conglormation to clear up a few things. First things first, it seems that Roddy and Orange will challenge for the Tag Team belts, and Kyle calls out Mox for his Continental championship. Not to be forgotten, of course, is the TBS Champion Willow Nightgale, who makes her claim for an Owen Hart tournament victory. The major headline, however, ends up being the return of Marc Briscoe, who calls out Tomasso Ciampa next week on Dynamite.

Triangle of Madness (Thekla, Skye Blue, & Julia Hart) Vs. Hikaru Shida, The Brawling Birds (Alex Windsor & Jamie Hayter)

Next up, we have a trios matchup, and let me start off by saying I am so happy that Thekla is the top dawg in AEW in Toni Storm’s absence. I was a huge fan of Thekla in Stardom and was foolishly worried about how she would fare with a brand new audience, and now, Lo Behold, she is now AEW women’s champ, hell fucking yeah. The match itself is really solid with highlights, especially from Thekla, Windsor, and Shida. Thekla eventually gets the match thrown out by decking Hayter with the Women’s championship belt, leading the match to get thrown out by ref Paul Turner.

Darby Allin © Vs. Konosuke Takeshita AEW World Championship

It’s Main Event time, and it’s time for Darby vs Takeshita, and these two, as expected, go out swinging. Theres a bunch of insane spots in this match, including a blue thunder bomb straight to the outside, which is insane for several reasons, but if that’s not enough, Takeshita does one of the most insane avalanche suplexes I’ve ever seen in my life. Eventually, it’s time for what MJF and Don Callis discussed to occur. First, El Clone runs out to distract the ref, and while Bryce is dealing with that, Don hands the Dynamite Diamond ring over to Takeshita. Takeshita, however, hesitates and decides to go to the ring to the side. Darby and Takeshita continue to go at it on a level playing field. After more insane spots and several coffin drops later, Darby manages to retain against Takeshita. The fun doesn’t stop there, however. Out of breath and with blood pouring out of his mouth, Darby calls out MJF to sign the contract for their Hair vs. Title match. MJF arrives, and while Darby signs the contract right away, MJF spends about 3 to 5 minutes going back and forth stalling as he keeps getting closer and closer to putting pen to paper. MJF covers his apprehension by cutting a signature MJF promo. Darby responds, getting straight to the point, saying that MJF is vain and soon he’s gonna be a bald-headed bitch, which causes MJF to finally sign, but then snap, cheap-shotting Darby and leaving him laid out in the center of the ring. MJF then goes to put Darby in a tombstone from the top right, but Kevin Knight (who Taz calls Kevin Hart on commentary lmao) comes in for the save, leaving the two standing tall to round out the episode.

Overall, a really solid, no frills, good old-fashioned wrestling program. Great matches, short and sweet segments, and just a highly entertaining episode start to finish. The pieces certainly seem to be coming together quite nicely for Double or Nothing. This episode gets 4 Marc Briscoe Barks out of 5 from ya boy.