The Aug. 22 edition of All Elite Wrestling Dynamite was highlighted the decimation of Cody at the hands of Mr. Brodie Lee.
Two weeks away from their fall pay-per-view event ‘All Out,’ the stars of All Elite Wrestling (AEW) returned to action for a special Saturday night episode.
Due to the NBA playoffs, AEW’s schedule has been altered by their broadcast partner, Turner Network Television (TNT). However, this gave the company the unique opportunity to not only air its show on primetime Saturday night TV, but get a valuable lead-in from NBA playoff viewers.
Saturday’s episode of Dynamite featured a stack card which included matches such as The Elite taking on Dark Order, Cody defending his TNT Championship against Mr. Brodie Lee and much more.
To learn about how all the action went down, keep reading this exciting new edition of ‘Diffusing Dynamite’ hosted by Gavin Axelrod and Joseph Cascaro (check) right here on The Intermission!
Mimosa Mayhem Match, ya you read that right
We must kick off Diffusing Dynamite by addressing the madness of the Mimosa Mayhem Match set for Sept. 5 at All Out between Chris Jericho and Orange Cassidy.
Tony Schiavone was just trying to do his job and interview Cassidy, a man of few words. However, the interview was interrupted by Chris Jericho before it could begin.
Jericho applauded his rival for pinning him clean last week on Dynamite, a feat only Scorpio Sky and Jon Moxley have accomplished since AEW’s inception. The wrestling veteran was adamant on the fact that since the two are 1-1 against each other, there must be a rubber match.
This match would be unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. Jericho explained how as the creator of the Money in the Bank match, he’s always inventing new matches in the world of wrestling.
In addition, since Orange Cassidy likes orange juice and Jericho likes champagne, Jericho created a match involving both. Thus, the Mimosa Mayhem Match was born.
How does one win this match? Great question.
As explained in a video package, the match can be won via pinfall, submission or throwing your opponent into a tank containing champagne and orange juice.
The concept itself sounds weird and over the top, but if one thing is certain someone’s going to get beaten to a pulp Sept. 5 at All Out.
Unfortunately for Cassidy, he couldn’t make it out of the ring without the Inner Circle attacking him and dowsing him with a little bit of the bubbly.
FTR and Tully Blanchard form a new alliance, tag team gauntlet match announced
The teases of a new Four Horsemen stable continued Saturday night when Tully Blanchard accompanied Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler of FTR to the ring. Blanchard guided the team to victory whilst draped in an FTR jacket.
If you recall, during AEW’s Tag Team Appreciation night last week on Dynamite, Blanchard got angry and said neither FTR or The Young Bucks were the best tag team in AEW because neither of them hold the tag team championship.
Later on Saturday’s episode in a backstage segment, FTR explained they joined forces with Blanchard because to be the best you have to learn from the best.
Before they could finish, their friend ‘Hangman’ Adam Page strolled in and was visibly upset. Page was angry at Harwood and Wheeler for not only attacking Rock ‘N’ Roll Express last week, but also because Harwood faked a knee injury.
FTR told ‘Hangman’ to calm down and that he was running hot, to which he responded by downing a glass of whisky. Harwood said the only reason he faked the knee injury was to see who he could trust and the only people who helped him to the back when he got ‘injured’ were Page and Blanchard.
The 36-year-old carried on, saying FTR would be involved in a gauntlet match next week to determine Omega and Page’s opponents for the AEW World Tag Team Championship at All Out. Harwood hit a proverbial “low blow” on the ‘Hangman’ by telling him FTR needs to win the match because although Page has beat the Young Bucks before to get out of their shadow, if The Bucks win the match next week and at All Out, he’ll be right back at square one.
It appears as though ‘Hangman’ Adam Page is in a tough spot. He’s tried so hard to step out of The Elite’s shadow, but his new drinking buddies may not be the people he thought they were.
There’s only one way this story ends and for Page it’s not going to be pretty. The segment ended with Blanchard telling the masses to fear the revelation.
Jon Moxley and Maxwell Jacob Freidman deliver on the mic
On an average episode of Dynamite Jon Moxley and Maxwell Jacob Freidman (MJF) would have delivered the segment of the night, but on Saturday there was just too much action.
AEW World Champion Jon Moxley cut a powerful promo about MJF’s need to talk about himself all the time proving he has something to hide. Moxley posed the question of what is MJF trying to hide?
The ‘Purveyor of Violence’ landed one last final blow on his challenger by exclaiming one day MJF would move out of his parents basement, one day he would lose his virginity and one day he would become a world champion, but that day isn’t Sept. 5 at All Out.
On the other side, MJF came prepared with a response and an attorney. MJF started to deliver a tearful statement about how last week when Moxley hit him with the Paradigm Shift also known as the double arm DDT, it went too far.
However, MJF was in so much pain he could not finish his promo instead letting his attorney do the talking who said if Moxley is the man he says he is, he’ll sign a contract to ban the Paradigm Shift from their match at All Out.
An interesting stipulation has been propes and we’ll have to wait until next week to see if Moxley will accept.
Kingston’s Kingdom?
Eddie Kingston made his long awaited return to Dynamite to unite the Lucha Bros and Butcher and Blade. He delivered a passionate promo which almost resembled that of a mob boss rallying the troops.
The segment ended with the five men hugging it out in the ring, but not without controversy. Kingston winked at the camera before the switch in segments leaving many to wonder if he was actually there to form a stable or drive the wedge further between the Lucha Bros and Butcher and Blade.
Have your say and let us know what you think. Is Kingston’s stable legit or is it all smoke and mirrors?
AEW women’s division gaining momentum
Saturday night’s episode of Dynamite marked the culmination of the AEW Women’s Tag Team Cup Tournament. Diamante and Ivelisse defeated The Nightmare Sisters, Allie and Brandi Rhodes to win the inaugural tournament.
The match itself was short, but sweet. It was undoubtedly a great moment for Diamente and Ivelisse to come out victorious on national television. Up until Saturday, the previous matches were all streamed exclusively on YouTube, which was a controversial decision.
However, regardless of where the tournament was streamed AEW took an important step in rehabilitating its diminished women’s division by creating new stars in the tournament winners. In addition, a new challenger who is likely to give the decision has appeared following the match.
For weeks National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) Women’s Champion Thunder Rosa had been beckoning for a shot at the AEW Women’s World Championship. The 34-year-old is one of the most popular women’s wrestlers and her potential appearance in AEW had fans very excited.
Finally, after all the speculation Thunder Rosa appeared on Saturday’s Dynamite to challenge AEW Women’s World Champion Hikaru Shida to a championship match at All Out. The match between Shida and Rosa is enough incentive alone to buy the pay-per-view and for hardcore fans of the sport this could be considered a dream match.
If you’ve never heard of Thunder Rosa, don’t worry. However, the former Lucha Underground and Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling star is almost guaranteed to make you a fan by the show’s end.
Darby Allin and Ricky Starks’ feud heats up
It’s pretty simple, Darby Allin and Ricky Starks don’t like each other.
On Saturday night Allin was in action against the big man, Will Hobbs. While Allin was victorious after the match, Taz, the manager of both Brian Cage and Starks said he had a surprise.
Taz stated there was a new member of the Team Taz stable and his name was also Darby, but he was bigger and better looking. Suddenly Darby Allin’s theme music started playing and to Tony Schiavone’s surprise, out came Starks.
The 21-year-old mocked his rival’s punk lifestyle, saying the only things he likes are skateboards and turtles. Yes, Starks directly initiated the “zombie kid who likes turtles”, whom many fans online have compared Allin to.
While the promo seemed comical at first, Starks made a beeline for the ring laid in a vicious attack. Brian Cage also came down to the ring to attack Allin and the segment ended with Starks mocking his downed rival’s Coffin Drop finishing maneuver.
Starks has earned high praise for his promo work as of late and Saturday was no different. AEW President Tony Khan even tweeted about how impressed he was with Starks’ work as of late
The only thing left is to book the two in a match against each other on Sept. 5 at All Out.
Mr. Brodie Lee murders Cody, his friends and his family
The term ‘squash match’ is usually reserved for when a debuting talent or proven superstar dominates their way to a victory in an extremely short match. A ‘squash’ as they say, is used to make a star look strong and sometimes used to knock the loser down a few rungs on the ladder.
On Saturday night, Mr. Brodie Lee didn’t just squash Cody, he obliterated him. Lee beat Cody in one of the most entertaining sub four minute matches in recent history to become the new TNT Champion.
AEW put on the perfect squash here as going into this match the audience had grown to hate Cody’s cocky antics over the course of his nine TNT Championship defenses. It was a genuine shock that the inaugural champion lost in under four minutes, but the majority of AEW fans out there will tell you it was a welcomed one.
The company has taken criticism over the past number of months for their portrayal, or lack there of its big men. However, on this night it was almost as if AEW said “how’s this for a portrayal of a big hoss?” as if to show they could in fact get it right.
Mr. Brodie needed to win here and his dominating victory only helps establish Dark Order’s presence even more. Over the past year the faction has gone from joke to serious threat.
With his victory Saturday, Lee’s stock is at an all-time high since leaving World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). However, his championship victory wasn’t the end of the night’s events.
While Tony Schiavone came to the ring to interview the new champion, a medical team rushed to the rink to tend to Cody. They put him on a stretcher and began to carry him to the back.
Just as Lee finished his promo he told Schiavone to get out of the ring, allowing him to back his escape. Cody and friends weren’t so lucky.
As Cody was being carried to the back, members of Dark Order attacked the head coach of the Nightmare Family Arn Anderson as well as the former champion. They ripped him off the stretcher and delivered a vicious beat down.
Soon after, other members of Dark Order brought Cody’s brother, Dustin Rhodes and his close adversary QT Marshall out from the back. Both men had been beaten senselessly and were thrown down in a heap.
Cody’s wife Brandi Rhodes attempted to make the save, but was choked out by Dark Order’s Anna Jay. The show ended with Cody, his wife, brother and friends all laying motionless.
For one final blow, Brodie Lee poured the shattered pieces of the original TNT Championship over Cody’s lifeless body, reminding him that he said he’d give the title back and the new one was his.
Ladies and gentlemen, Dark Order has officially arrived.
Next week: The fallout from Dark Order’s attack, Matt Hardy takes on Sammy Guevara in a tables match and more on a special Thursday edition of AEW Dynamite!
Comments