AEW Dynamite: Fight For the Fallen’ Review (July 27th 2022)
This week’s episode of AEW: Dynamite marks the return of AEW’s special Fight For the Fallen programming. This episode was broadcast live from the DCU Center in Worcester, MA and saw Jim Ross, Excalibur, and “The Human Suplex Machine” Taz on commentary for tonight’s event. Let’s get into the review!
Match #1: AEW Interim World Title Match – Jon Moxley def. Rush
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Rush swiped out the knee of Moxley and began to stomp him. Rush followed up with splashes in the corner. After biting Moxley’s forehead, Rush smeared Moxley’s blood on his chest. Outside the ring, Rush swung a chair at Moxley’s leg but Moxley dodged it. Rush turned his back and Moxley drove Rush into the steel ring barricade with a tope suicida. Moxley and Rush had a chop fest in the ring. Rush answered with a thrust kick. Outside the ring, Rush wrapped TV camera cable around Mox and began to choke him. Back in the ring, Moxley superplexed Rush. Moxley rocked Rush with a King Kong lariat! Rush dodged a charge from Moxley and used Mox’s momentum against him, countering with a snap German Suplex. Rush applied a cross face submission. Moxley transitioned out and booted Rush in the jaw repeatedly. Rush sent Moxley soaring into the buckles with a belly-to-belly suplex. Moxley bit down on Rush’s head. Andrade El Idolo shoved Mox off the ropes. The Lucha Bros. ran out and chased Andrade away. Rush was looking for the double knees but Moxley countered with a clothesline. Rush rallied back with a straitjacket piledriver for a near fall on Moxley. Rush ran towards Moxley with the Bull’s Horns but Moxley had it scouted. Mox ducked under a knee and nailed Rush with the Deathrider! Moxley applied the bulldog choke submission and retained!
My Score: 3.5 out of 5
Match #2: FTW Title Match – Ricky Starks def. Danhausen
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Starks booted Danhausen in the head. Danhausen fired back with a kick to Starks’ teeth. Starks charged at Danhausen but Danhausen dodged Ricky. Ricky’s own momentum carried him into the corner, ramming his neck in the buckles. Danhausen cradled Ricky for a near fall. Starks was holding his tweaked neck. Starks sliced Danhausen in half with a spear and pinned Danhausen!
My Score: 1.5 out of 5
Match #3: FTW Title Match – HOOK def. Ricky Starks
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
HOOK found his mark with body shots and a headbutt to Starks. HOOK hurled Starks with a pump handle suplex. Starks countered the El Camino with a spear! HOOK got Starks back with the RedRum and Starks tapped out! Starks and HOOK fist bumped after the match, showing mutual respect.
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #4: Sammy Guevara def. Dante Martin
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Sammy took Dante off his feet with a beautiful dropkick. Dante vaulted over Sammy and answered with his own dropkick, trying to get under the skin of Sammy with mind games. Sammy and Tay tried to leave but Dante chased after Sammy. Dante threw Sammy off the ramp and then rocketed with a somersault onto Sammy. Dante backdropped Sammy over the top rope to the arena floor. Dante spring boarded off the top rope but Sammy blasted Dante with a knee strike! Sammy launched himself over the top rope and wiped-out Dante on the floor. Dante hit a standing Spanish Fly on Sammy for a near fall. Sammy came out of nowhere with a cutter to Dante. Sammy followed up with the GTH and pinned Dante!
My Score: 3 out of 5
Match #5: Handicap Match – Swerve Strickland def. Tony Nese & “Smart” Mark Sterling
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Swerve grabbed Nese and nailed him with a back breaker. Nese cross chopped Swerve in the throat. Nese yanked Strickland down with a handful of hair. Swerve splashed Nese in the corner with a back elbow and then a diving uppercut. Swerve hit a thrust kick and then a double foot stomp onto Nese. Swerve Strickland cracked Sterling in the head with a kick and then pinned him!
My Score: 1.5 out of 5
Match #6: AEW Women’s World Title Match – Thunder Rosa def. Miya Yamashita
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Champion and challenger locked up in the ring. Miya grabbed a wrist lock. Thunder Rosa applied a head lock and then an arm drag. Miya intercepted a right hand from Rosa. Thunder Rosa pulled Yamashita onto the apron but Yamashita swept out the legs of Rosa. Outside the ring, Thunder Rosa blasted Yamashita with a shotgun dropkick. Thunder Rosa climbed to the top turnbuckle but Yamashita hit Rosa with a high roundhouse kick. They slugged it out with forearms in the center of the ring. They blocked one another’s lariat attempts. Miya mauled Thunder Rosa with a delayed German Suplex for a near fall. Thunder Rosa was looking for the Fire Thunder Driver but Miya escaped and fired back with a skull kick! Miya cradled Thunder Rosa but Thunder Rosa kicked out. Thunder Rosa hit a roundhouse and then the Fire Thunder Driver, pinning Miya Yamashita!
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #7: Daniel Garcia def. Bryan Danielson
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Danielson went right after Garcia with a running charge, his boots hitting Garcia right in the jaw! Danielson followed up with a tope suicida. As Danielson returned to the ring, Garcia hit Danielson with back elbows. Danielson mounted Garcia with the ground and pound attack. Garcia came back with an uppercut and clubbing elbows to Danielson. Garcia followed up with a neck breaker. Garcia whipped Danielson into the steel ring barricade. Garcia ripped the padding off the concrete floor but Danielson blasted Garcia with kicks. Danielson used a missile dropkick on Garcia. Danielson had a hard landing. Garcia seized the moment and jumped on Danielson with elbows and strikes. Danielson stumbled, collapsing to the mat, and rolled to the arena floor. Garcia grabbed Danielson and DDT’ed the American Dragon on the exposed concrete floor. Garcia gouged at Bryan Danielson’s bloody forehead. Garcia bit down on Danielson’s forehead. Danielson escaped between Garcia’s legs. Danielson clubbed Garcia with forearms and then back suplexed Garcia off the turnbuckles. Bryan Danielson unleashed hell with numerous roundhouse kicks to Daniel Garcia. Danielson approached Garcia but Garcia grabbed him and locked on a submission. Danielson countered with a Tiger Suplex. Garcia escaped and clobbered Bryan with hammer and anvil elbow strikes. Danielson got to his feet and used a shoulder capture suplex on Garcia! Garcia smacked Danielson in the face with an open palm strike. Danielson retaliated with the running knee! Garcia broke up with momentum by rolling to the outside. Danielson followed him with a diving knee! Someone grabbed Danielson’s leg from beneath the ring. Garcia hit Bryan with a piledriver and then put Bryan in a leg lock! The referee stopped the match as Bryan Danielson was out. Jake Hager jumped in the ring, revealing himself as the person who had grabbed Bryan Danielson’s legs.
My Score: 4 out of 5
Final Verdict: 4/5
This week’s episode of Dynamite opened strong – even if the scores don’t reflect that. The Rush/Moxley match was truly great but that entire Ricky Starks/Danhausen/Hook match & promo string was SUPERB booking, with Starks going from heel to babyface in the space of what felt like 10 minutes… Starks came out of the entire thing looking like he was ready to step up and start fighting for bigger and better championships, whilst Hook has grabbed his father’s legacy and that opens up SO many potential storylines, matches, etc. The show waned a bit after that, with the Sammy/Dante match being technically goods but feeling a little flat – mainly because, I think, Sammy has lost some of the lustre he had prior to his TNT title reign and Dante does what he does but with more passion (at least it feels that way). What the hell anyone was thinking with the Swerve/Nese match I don’t know – the entire match felt like a Benny Hill sketch rather than a wrestling match.
The women’s title match was good but you couldn’t help but feel there were some communication issues between Rosa and Yamashita and there were some spots that felt like they were over-rehearsed, the timing was off and the fluidity had gone. But as for the idea of fighting someone overseas and then bringing them to the US for a title match? Brilliant. And AEW needs to do more things like this… and maybe one day take a chance and strap an “outsider” with the title?! As for the main event. I could have done without the shenanigans from the big man Jake Hager but the rest of the match was a joy to watch, with Garcia showing that he’s too f*cking good to be part of the crappy JAS and pretending he’s a “sports entertainer” – the dude is a wrestler and a damn good one. Great storytelling from this match too – putting Danielson through the ringer after a return from injury. Definitely kept the audience on tenterhooks!
