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Fireworks galore as we kick off final Dynamite before Revolution! How the heck is AEW going to fit in everything with a 30 minute Iron Man Match? We’ll find out as we’re kicking things off with Kenny Omega vs. Pac. Justin Roberts is so damn adamant that Pac is a bastard. Roberts and Bobby Cruise are, in my opinion, the best ring announcers in wrestling today. A Howard Finkel they’ll never be, but who the heck is?
Interesting that the Bucks are out with Omega, a nice nod to their time in NJPW. This match would be a selling point for PPV. Iron Man matches are really helped or hindered by the announcing and ow they can convey the story for 30 minutes. These guys are hitting hard early, but with Pac, you’ve come to expect that. Omega with a tope con hilo very early. VERY fast pace early on. Omega is hitting his moves, not his spots, but his moves. Very different context which I’ll explain on the post game.
Tornado DDT by Pac off of Omega catching him on a moonsault. BRAINBUSTER off the top rope by Pac. PLEASE let this be a fall. Interesting how Pac sold it as well. Nice touch as Omega has no business kicking out. 10 minutes in and I’m bummed that this isn’t a 60 minute match. BTW in case anyone cares, I HATED the WrestleMania XII Shawn Michaels v Bret Hart Iron Man Match.
10 minutes in and these guys are working an amazing pace. Fast, then slow. Fast, then slow. THIS is the Omega I’ve been waiting for. They’re showing wear and tear, as well they should, 13 minutes in. Tiger Driver 98 ans Omega STILL can’t get a pin. Pac kicks out of a Snap German and a rollup. V Trigger and, OMG Omega was about to do a OWA off the top. Pac KICKED OUT AGAIN. This is great! Half way through and Pac is looking for a chair. We’ve got a DQ for 1 fall. BRILLIANT strategy as Pac should easily make up this fall after the chair shot. Black Arrow and we’re tied at 1. CLASSIC Triple H v Rock strategy from 2000.
I usually gripe about picture in picture but not tonight. I don’t want to miss a second of this. Twelve minutes left and Omega is fighting back. They’re on the apron. This can’t be good. JEEZ a driver from the apron to the floor by Pac. That’ll take a few months off you career on the tail end. Referee Paul Turner gets taken out. Third match of a trilogy and I really hope this isn’t the last time they meet. Excalibur tells us the 1st fall was the first ever AEW disqualification. Pac just hit a shooting star press to the outside, putting Omega through a table. Bucks are playing the part of concerned citizens perfectly.
Six minutes left and we almost got a count out. Omega got help from the Bucks getting back in, so Pac has an out later on. Pac ate Omega’s knees on a Black Arrow. That had to hurt. Four minutes remain. The guy in the Scooby Doo costume is not at ringside. V-Trigger and Pac reverses the OWA into a reverse rana. Brutalizer! This crowd is INVESTED, imploring Omega to escape. Two minutes remain and Omega reaches the ropes.
Pac tries to go right back to the Brutalizer but Omega fights it off with a minute left. Old fashioned eye rake by Omega but Pac holds on as the time runs out. We’ve got a 1-1 tie after 30. I’m perfectly OK with a draw but we are told it will continue under Sudden Death rules. Aubrey Edwards is now in charge as Pac beat the crap out of Paul Turner at the bell. One Winged Angel and after about a minute into OT, Omega gets the W. Pac has two bones of contention here: The Bucks assisting Omega back in the ring to avert a count out AND having to break the Brutalizer after the 30 minute limit expired.
Hell of a match!
Tony Schiavone must have a death wish asking Pac how it felt to lost. Luckily for him, Orange Cassidy came out and went face to face with Pac, and got the appropriate amount to crap kicked out of him. Lexi’s at the Inner Circle’s dressing room and the AEW champ doesn’t want to talk. I certainly would be up for spending time with her.
Time for some six man tag action, Sammy Guevara, Ortiz and Santana vs the Jurassic Express. I don’t envy Cory having to call the play by play here. Quick, quick action. Marko and his size will take some criticism, but if used correctly in the match, it works. He just took a double stomp, power slam and a standing moonsault. Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus saved him, which spared us having to see him kick out, which there’s no way he should ever do here.
Back from commercial and Stunt is still getting worked over, which he should, since his job is to get the hot tag off. Luchasaurus gets the tag and works over the former Proud and Powerful, who I really think AEW dropped the ball on. They’re the top heel group in the infancy of AEW. They should have been presented much much hotter so wins over them would have meant a lot more. As such, their star power fades a little when not standing next to Jericho. Darby Allin with the assist and Sammy takes the pin. Sammy, right now, is probably the right guy to lose but, and I’ve said this before, it’s quickly becoming time to get behind him before he comes off as a the total job guy of the company.
We get a video package of the history between MJF and Cody, the match I really feel is the PPV sticking point Saturday night. By the way, if you haven’t joined Dark Order yet, what are you waiting for?
Time for Best Friends vs Butcher and Blade, who are on their last legs of booking credibility if they’re not presented as the killers they APPEAR to be. The Bunny is with them, so that makes me happy. Looks like we’re getting a Jericho and Moxley weigh in as our main event tonight. I’m curious if the subtle problems Best Friends have been having of late getting on the same page will continue tonight.
I feel bad for 3rd shift State Farm employees having to wear the uniform in the middle fo the night at a call center. Picture in picture throughout commercial and B&B look to be in control. I think the time may be approaching for them to be a Dark act and get some squash W’s. There’s something (besides the obvious Bunny) I like about this team. And after some shenanigans between The Bunny and Orange Cassidy, Best Friends get the win. Tony Schiavone hits the ring and announces Orange Cassidy vs Pac at Revolution. We get a thumbs up (semi) from OC. Tony joins the Best Friends hug in.
Women’s 4 way up next featuring Yuka, Big Swole, Portugal’s Perfect Athlete (from France) andHikaru Shida. I’m now questioning the placement of the Iron Man match as, at 9:21 EST, I’m not sure this will hold interest. Yuka is making some very odd faces as the others are trying to have a match and Taz just called them schoolgirls. I can’t tell you how much I don’t like that. Shanna, Swole and Shida are really athletic and look like they’re having a wrestling match. Shida with the pin on Swole. That’s about all I can say here.
DARK ORDER!!! Looks like we’re getting the mighty Dark Order vs. SCU at Revolution, as if I needed more incentive to order this show. My father-in-law’s Nursing Home got a fresh set of #JoinDarkOrder pamphlets over the weekend. Don’t judge me, I have 9 year old nephew who thinks I’m the coolest, which, of course, I am.
JR with a sit down with AEW Champions Page and Omega and the Young Bucks. Page is enjoying some whiskey, it appears. The Bucks are talking with a little chip on their shoulder, as they feel they’re the best tag team in the world. Bucks flat out call Page a Ring of Honor jobber. Really seems like they might go with the swerve and have the Bucks go heel here.
JR, Taz and Excalibur push both the PPV line up and the signing of Lance Archer, the PPV looks stellar and Archer is a hell of a signing.
Tony Schiavone and some VERY attractive ladies hit the ring for the official AEW Title Match weigh in. Nice UFC touch. Gary Michael Capetta is (for some reason) our master of ceremonies. There are fewer things cooler in pro wrestling than Le Champion’s entrance. Jericho (correctly, IMO) blames Capetta for WCW going out of business. Moxley weighs in at 234 lbs. The crowd erupts at this, I’m not sure why. Time for the Painmanker to run down Kansas City (did you know that Patrick Mahomes has 5 less Super Bowl titles than Tom Brady?). Out of nowhere, Moxley headbutt’s Fozzy’s lead singer, Jericho bleeds pretty heavy from the bridge of the nose. Dustin Rhodes comes out and he and Hager fight into the Dippin Dots stand. Paradigm Shift by Jericho on the scale. We never actually got Jericho’s official weight but I imagine the match is still official anyway.
***
80’s Wrestling Con 3 takes place on Saturday, April 18th at iPlay America in Freehold, NJ from 10 AM to 3 PM featuring appearances by Honky Tonk Man, Zeus, “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan, Lex Luger, Rock N’ Roll Express, “Dr. D” David Schultz, The Haiti Kid, Teddy Long, Dutch Mantell, The Conquistadors (Jose Luis Rivera & Jose Estrada), Sean Mooney, Larry Zbyszko, Sam Houston, “Polish Power” Ivan Putski, Tony Garea, Mike McGuirk, Ted Arcidi, and the daughter of Andre The Giant Robin Christensen-Roussimoff. Also appearances by Dean Malenko, The Ascension, Bill DeMott, Terri Runnels, and more! Tons of vendor tables, attractions, Q&A’s, and more! For more info visit 80sWrestlingCon.com and Email 80sWrestlingPics@gmail.com. Be a part of the biggest 80’s Wrestling Party ever!
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