Oh yeah, it feels so good
To be back where we belong
Oh yeah, it feels so good
This is where we started from
Thanks for that, New Edition. Those immortal words are echoing through this writer’s skull as we get ready to take in AEW Dynamite Homecoming from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville.
You might remember this as the pandemic-era home of AEW, the place where everyone buckled down and got through some very difficult times thanks to the Power of Pro Wrestling (don’t try to trademark that, I’ve already filed). It was the place where talent simply worked through it, the spot where The Gunns went from “Who are those lads with Billy on the right-hand side of the ring every week?” to actual weekly TV types.
On a sadder and more serious note, it’s also where the world at large got to know the late Mr. Brodie Lee better, which has gone into the thinking behind some of the matches on tonight’s card, according to Tony Khan. Yes, there are some random-ish eight-person tag matches, but they feature people important to Lee, and that is a cool touch.
Some of the more prominent singles matches may not have that kind of story behind them, yet they still could cook. Ricky Starks vs. Sammy Guevara for the first time ever? Sure. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Hangman Adam Page? Of course!
We’re also on Day 10, give or take, of Mercedes Watch, so there’s that too.
Plenty of reason to tune in. Light the fuse, Daily’s Place!
AEW Dynamite results from Jacksonville:
(please scroll down for full details on any match or segment in bold)
- Hangman Adam Page def. Claudio Castagnoli by pinfall
- A short compilation of Brodie Lee highlights from Daily’s Place is shown, along with an explanation of how his two hand-picked proteges are in action tonight
- Orange Cassidy, Preston Vance, Dustin Rhodes and Adam Copeland def. Brian Cage, Gates of Agony and Lance Archer by pinfall, with Vance pinning Cage after some turmoil between Archer and the Mogul Embassy members during the match
- Renee Paquette talks to Bullet Club Gold about the Undisputed Kingdom, and The Acclaimed stops by to repeat their suggestion that they form a “Bang Bang Scissor Gang superfaction,” and you can tell Austin Gunn is still on board with the idea
- Samoa Joe says he has changed the title challenge protocol, but that doesn’t stop Swerve Strickland, Hangman and Hook from all throwing their hats in the ring
- Paquette is with Toni Storm and Mariah May, and the champ is both dismissive of May and a little disturbed by the arrival of Deonna Purrazzo
- Sammy Guevara def. Ricky Starks by pinfall
- Sammy shakes Ricky’s hand after the match, but it’s a ruse for an attack by Big Bill that also draws in Chris Jericho … all while “Judas” blares the whole time
- Willow Nightingale, Kris Statlander, Anna Jay and Thunder Rosa def. Saraya, Ruby Soho, Skye Blue and Julia Hart by submission as Anna Jay gets Skye Blue to tap out to the Queenslayer
- Wheeler Yuta fires back at the “disrespect” he’s been shown by Eddie Kingston and makes it clear he’d like to face Kingston for his Continental Crown Championship on Rampage
- Roderick Strong def. Bryan Keith by pinfall
- Adam Cole gets on the mic after Strong’s win and goes over the Undisputed Kingdom mission statement again
- Paquette talks to Purrazzo about Storm, and Deonna gets a Collision challenge from Red Velvet
- Darby Allin and Sting def. Konosuke Takeshita and Powerhouse Hobbs by pinfall
- Schiavone gets in the ring to ask Sting who his last opponent will be, but the answer is interrupted by the more clean shaven Young Bucks, who linger on stage with their music playing before leaving
Hangman Adam Page does enough “Cowboy S–t” to beat Claudio Castagnoli
Upset as he has been recently, Hangman takes it right to Claudio as soon as the opening bell sounds. That’s not a bad idea, but you’re not going to just overwhelm the Swiss Superman, and sure enough Castagnoli takes control once the fight gets inside the ring.
Or is he just pissing Hangman off more? Page no sells some shots in the corner and marches forward, and they trade hard shots until Page ends up going for the Giant Swing.
Claudio goes for the Sharpshooter next, but he almost gets rolled up when he transitions to a crossface. Castagnoli fires right back with a Death Valley Driver, and both men are slow to rise.
Page breaks out with a fallaway slam as the fans applaud to egg him on. He kips up and hits a springboard lariat, then follows with a plancha and some right hands on the floor.
Once they’re both back inside the ropes, Page is caught on a corner charge and slammed hard over the top rope and onto the ramp. That couldn’t have felt good.
After some side by side ads, Page ends up right back on the ramp, and not by choice. Claudio punches him up to the stage, but the Cowboy sends him back toward the ring and then into it with a running lariat.
Castagnoli sees the Buckshot coming, however, and gets a near fall with a popup uppercut. The battle goes back to the floor, where Claudio catches Hangman and smacks him into a wall (yes) before getting countered with a DDT.
Page hits a moonsault off the wall, then counters a Tombstone with one of his own back in the ring. Castagnoli kicks out, though, and the match rolls on.
After sending Page face first into the top turnbuckle, Castagnoli hits a running uppercut and more of them in the corner. A big short arm lariat leads to a cover, but Page isn’t ready to be pinned yet.
Hangman pops up to deliver the DeadEye, but is somewhat slow to cover and only gets two again. They both end up ascending or trying to, and Claudio’s Ricola Bomb is countered with a hurricanrana. Two doses of the Buckshot are enough to keep Castagnoli down for the three count.
Samoa Joe has more than one person pursuing his title
Were some people tiring of MJF? It sure sounds like it as the current champion is getting “thank you Joe” chants. The champ says he’s making some changes to the title challenge protocol, saying people won’t have to whine in the ring or on social media.
Instead, you bring your record and reputation to the “championship committee,” and if they deem you worthy, you get an express pass for Joe to “stomp your ass out.” Wait, that doesn’t sound like a prize!
For anyone who wants a piece of him, the champion will be waiting. Of course, all that is unlikely to go unanswered, and sure enough, Swerve Strickland and the Mogul Embassy pop out on stage. Strickland boasts that he took Hangman’s spot, and just like that was, it isn’t personal between Swerve and Joe. He just wants the championship and he’s going to take it.
After winning the title, Swerve says he’ll be happy to make things personal between them. Of course, he already has a personal issue that somehow still isn’t done, and that’s with Hangman, who joins them. He also vows to make the AEW World Championship his in 2024, and Joe simply laughs as Page and Strickland stare holes in each other.
Page turns to Joe and says he hasn’t forgotten what Joe had done to him, and he’s going to take the title from him for it. After everyone leaves, Joe simply holds the belt aloft.
He’s not done, though. Hook’s music hits and the FTW Champion comes to the ring to have his own staredown with Joe. “One week,” Hook says before leaving.
Sammy Guevara rocks Ricky Starks for a big win
These two have never been in the ring for a singles match before, and they start off a little cautiously as a result. Guevara is the first to step on the gas, forcing Starks from the ring with a dropkick and dropping a moonsault on him from the top rope.
The battle goes to the apron, where neither man can impose his will into Sammy starts landing some nasty chops. Starks shrugs those off and slams Guevara hard onto the apron as side-by-side commercials slide in.
(They wasted Ricky’s awesome rope walk spot during the ads, darn them.)
Guevara seems to have a rally going now and gets a near fall right after the full broadcast is back. Sammy wants to climb but Ricky doesn’t want to let him, and Starks sets off on a flurry of offense that leads to his own near fall.
Starks’ great counter wrestling allows him to score another two count, but Guevara manages to nail him with a couple of superkicks and pulls off an inside cradle to get the dub.
Sting has one more crazy spot in him as he and Darby Allin top the Don Callis Family
Ric Flair and Don Callis are ringside with their respective teams, and this is going to be hard to recap since it immediately breaks down with fighting into the crowd in two different directions. No DQs, falls count anywhere for this one.
Takeshita is hitting rolling Germans on the floor on poor Darby as we get picture-in-picture action. Sting is faring even worse … until Allin gets tossed by both his foes and does like three revolutions before hitting the mat.
Sting comes back into the ring on fire but gets smacked down quickly by Takeshita. Flair decides to step in and chop Hobbs, which does nothing, but he thumbs Powerhouse in the eye and buys Sting enough time to recover.
All four men brawl up to the stage, and it feels like something nuts is going to happen. Sure enough it does, with Allin hitting a Coffin Drop on Takeshita from high up in the stands.
Hobbs hoists Sting and carries him down a walkway in front of the stands, but the Icon turns the tables with a Scorpion Death Drop down through some tables. Sting rolls over and throws an arm on top of Hobbs, and he stays undefeated as the ref counts to three.
