By the time you read this Death Before Dishonor will already be underway so let’s get right into ranking a show that helped build some matches for it!
Honorable Mention: Wardlow and Claudio Castagnoli. Wardlow cut a promo in the back talking about how the TNT Championship was built on the idea of the open challenge and he said he’ll (for the first time I have to make my Power Rankings TV-14) “Beat the shit” out of the entire AEW locker room, Ring of Honor locker room or any locker room. A few of the kate additions to Death Before Dishonor weren’t announced until later in the broadcast so I was surprised we didn’t get a last minute addition of Wardlow’s ROH open challenge or something like that. Claudio cut a solid promo saying that he’s never won a world title but he’s never thought he was the best because of championships, he thought it because the fans believe in him and support him. He said Gresham is going to get cracked because he tugged on Superman’s cape and he is “Claudio God damn Castagnoli, your NEW Ring of Honor World Champion!” as all of Tully Blanchard Enterprises looked on from a luxury suite.
5. Max Caster and Austin Gunn engaged in a rap battle. Later on in his bars Austin choked and he got rattled. Lil Scrappy was the judge there to call it down the middle. But the lines were mostly lame, met with silence like broken fiddles. Caster tried with some lines about owning a Gunn but there were a few jabs that connected from Billy’s younger son. He started with a line about Lashley’s sister and how he couldn’t please Stat cause his hands were scissors. But then he took the low road with a joke about Bowens being a receiver and Caster nearly ethered him saying TK’s a non-believer. Said Tony Khan bought ROH so he could take Austin’s tape and burn it Lil Scrappy gave Caster the win and I feel like he earned it. So The Acclaimed gets to pick the time and place of their next fight but Gunn Club jumped ’em after the loss and left standing tall tonight.
4. “Hangman” Adam Page and John Silver. “The Meat Man” John Silver and his Cowboy partner took down The Butcher and The Blade to start our night. Page came out like a house of fire vaulting on to Butcher on the floor then tope-ing Blade on the other side and following up with a flying lariat for 2. The dastardly duo got back in control when Blade distracted the ref allowing Butcher to slam Page into the barricade and apron. Silver eventually got the hot tag but Butcher tossed him into a gut buster from The Blade and Blade hit a Doctor Bomb for 2. Silver tagged in Page who dumped Blade over the top and met a Butcher lariat with one of his own but neither man moved. They both tried another one with the same result. Butcher drop stepped an incoming Page and tried to German suplex him but Hangman landed on his feet and hit Butcher withba third lariat that finally rocked him. He went for a Buckshot Lariat but Blade grabbed his leg. He kicked Blade off and tried to moonsault to the outside but Blade avoided and Silver flew into Blade with a cannonball off the apron. Page cuttered Butcher over the top rope, Silver followed with a German suplex of his own and Page finally hit the Buckshot Lariat for the win. There seems to always be rumblings about AEW introducing a trios title but if I had my say I’d just use the existing Ring of Honor trios titles. However they bring in trios belts Page, Silver and Reynolds should definitely be in that early mix for them.
3. Jay Lethal. He met fellow ROH and TNA alumni Christopher Daniels in the main event tonight. This was a solid match, especially considering Daniels is in his 50s which always blows my mind. Lethal hit a tope suicida to Daniels and then a triangle dropkick to send “The Fallen Angel” off the apron. Another TNA alum Sonjay Dutt took advantage of thebref distraction to lay some boots to Daniels outside. Lethal did a back chop to a seated Daniels, a kick to his chest and a knee drop a la his Death Before Dishonor opponent Samoa Joe and mimicked the “Joe!” chant. Daniels fought back hitting a big knee to the side of Jay’s head when Lethal caught his first kick attempt. He tried mounted corner punches but Lethal carried him out and Daniels was able to hit an STO followed by a Blue Thunder Bomb for 2. Lethal hit a Lethal Combination and tried a Hail To The King but Daniels got the leg up and Lethal stopped short and tried to lock in a Figure 4 instead which I took as a fun wink and nod to his role in Flair’s Last Match next week, but Daniels rolled him up mid-attempt for 2. Lethal tried a Lethal injection but Daniels vaulted him over his back and tried for the Angel’s Wings but Lethal back body dropped him and hit the Lethal Injection for the win. After the match Dutt stomped Daniels some more and Satnam Singh gorill press slammed Daniels off the apron to the floor. Jay locked in the Coquina Clutch in one more dig at Samoa Joe as Dutt in prime 80s manager fashion obnoxiously yelled right in the camera.
2. Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. and Jamie Hayter. Before the bell we were reminded that these 2 had never won a tag match together but that changed tonight when they took out Ashley D’Amboise and Skye Blue. Rebel accompanied the villains to the ring holding the sand bag from their last promo and Tony Schiavone made the connection that sand bags can help stop (damage from) thunder storms which saved it from just being the obnoxiously smarky reference I took it as. Right out of the gate Britt was in prime form kicking out the arm of Skye Blue when she matrix dodged an attack from Baker. Hayter got in but D.M.D. would make a blind tag and sweep out Blue’s leg on the apron and give her a twisting neckbreaker off of it. Baker grabbed Blue’s hand in the ring and made her do the “D.M.D.” taunt towards D’Amboise. D’Amboise then had an impressive showing of her athleticism as she went up and over the corner from Hayter, cuttered Jamie over the top rope, lept over the top with both feet and rolled in to try to neckbreaker Hayter but she had avoided it and Britt hit a ripcord elbow followed by a backbreaker from Hayter, Britt putting on the glove, delivering a tornado double underhook butterfly suplex and Hayter leveling Ashley with a sliding forearm to the back of the head so Britt could lock in Lockjaw for the win. I appreciate AEW being able to have friction between teams and them have them (at least temporarily) overcome it with teams like Swerve and Lee and now Baker and Hayter.
1. Lee Moriarty. He and Dante Martin only got 9 minutes tonight but they did the most they could with it. They started the match with some silky smooth chain wrestling that reminded me of everyone’s favorite wrestler that they don’t know is their favorite wrestler yet, Charlie Dempsey. Commentary told us Dante was 1-0 in their career beating Lee last year in his hometown. There were some wild reversal sequences following the chain wrestling and then Lee started feeling a little more heelish when he flattened Martin with a big boot. He caught Martin in a Northern Lights suplex for 2 and followed up with some very BCC-esque mounted elbows. Dante flipped into delivering a hurricanrana off the top as Stokley Hathaway walked out. Dante avoided a corner attack from Moriarty and then vaulted over the ring post from one side of the apron to the other and came in with a crossbody for 2. There was a beautiful apot where Lee charged at Dante who did his sideways dodging flip and Moriarty did a backwards tiger feint kick type of move through the ropes to the apron and they stared down for a second. Lee slid in under Martin and stacked him in a pin for 2 then turned it into a Border City Stretch but Dante grabbed the ropes. Dante hit a sick looking swinging half and half slam for 2 and tried for a Nose Dive but Moriarty avoided it and Dante tried to O’Connor roll him but Martin rolled him back and held on to the rope for the win. After the match Sydal called Lee out for taking the low road and challenge him to a match on Rampage next week. Moriarty had a sly smile and walked off without taking a business card Hathaway offered. Part of me was hoping we’d get that match or a trilogy match with Martin as a last minute addition to Death Before Dishonor but I’m fine with waiting. I don’t know if the end game here is Moriarty aligning with Hathaway, the BCC or maybe even recruiting Martin and starting his own thing but I am very interested in seeing where this goes.
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