BRM Reviews the 6/26/2021 Dynamite (OMEGA VS. JUNGLE BOY!)

[Big Red Machine]

EARLIER TODAY, SAMMY GUEVARA WAS AMBUSHED IN THE PARKING LOT BY SHAWN SPEARS- very good
As Sammy showed up, Alex Marvez asked him for his thoughts going into his big main event against MJF on Wednesday’s Dynamite. Shawn Spears jumped out from behind a truck and hit Sammy in the arm with a chair. Sammy sold his arm very well.

WILL HOBBS vs. ADAM PAGE- 6.75/10
Page’s entrance graphic referred to him as “hotter than a hoochie coochie.” Page is #2-ranked wrestling in the company and 15-1 in 2021 (and against real competition, too, not jobbers on Dark)… and they just can’t help themselves but do something pointless and stupid to make him feel like a joke.
This was a good opener other than that one really bad botch with whatever Page was trying with Hobbs at the ringpost. They cut to a different angle so you couldn’t quite see what happened (I’m pretty sure Page just fell down), but the angle they cut to was so awkward that it made it clear they were editing around something.
Page’s arm got worked over a bit, and he got a nasty gash on his head from running into the post. Ricky Starks and Hook came out to offer Hobbs aid in the form of the FTW Title belt. It would have been better if they had had Hook distract the referee first, but the important part is that Brian Cage was not happy with Starks taking his belt and trying to help Hobbs cheat with it, so he followed Starks out and got it back. He tried to get his hands on Starks but Starks escaped. Taz was outraged by this, as Starks is injured and Cage surely would have hurt him quite badly. Page picked up the win soon after. Taz left the commentary booth, vowing to talk with Cage and Starks.

JUNGLE BOY VS. KENNY OMEGA VIDEO PACKAGE- fine
I had not considered that the angle with Omega was supposed to be him going crazy. I don’t think that’s what the idea really is, either, but someone said it here, and it would make sense.

YOUNG BUCKS & BRADON CUTLER PROMO- bad
The Bucks were mostly good until the last forty-five seconds or so. That f*cking cawing was completely random and stupid. It’s the sort of thing that New Day does that I hate.
The real problem here, though, was the Brandon Cutler stuff. It took an otherwise serious promo and turned it into a total joke.
Also, the Bucks’ wardrobe has gone too far at this point. They come across like people trying to dress in a way that will get heat (in this case by trying to out-do mid-90’s Shawn Michaels) rather that people who actually dress that way because that’s who they are.

TONY SCHIAVONE INTERVIEWS TULLY BLANCHARD AND KONNAN IN THE RING- bad
It was good to see Konnan walking so well after all of the hip problems he has had. He spoke well, too, but that was all erased by the way they made him look like an idiot at the end. He’s been in wrestling for how long and didn’t realize something was up when supposedly “his” guys came out with not just their bandanas but full facemasks? How can you let this babyface go on and on about how he isn’t going to fall for any of Tully’s tricks, and then fall for something obvious?
Also, this is yet another example of beating up the old man for heat in AEW (two weeks in a row now! And four in a month!). And what’s worse, this time it doesn’t even feel like a necessary part of the story so much as something they just did to stretch the angle out another week. Excalibur says that he “can’t believe” this, but this isn’t even the first time FTR have given and old man a Spike Piledriver on this show in the past year!
And all of this stuff about Konnan being “a father” to LAX is completely undermined by the fact that less than a month ago we saw them in the middle of a nearly life-or-death fight… and h was just standing there DJ-ing, not even lifting a finger to help or even acknowledging that he knew who they were.
Speaking of not knowing people, Ross forgot the Pinnacle’s name.

DANTE MARTIN vs. MATT SYDAL (w/Mike Sydal)- 7.25/10
Between Martin and Sydal’s entrances, Vickie Guerrero and Andrade el Idolo came out. They were about to reveal their big surprise, but Sydal’s entrance interrupted them, so they just went to the back. Why did you even have them come out if all you were going to do in the end is make them look like geeks?
Sydal and Martin had a great action match. Sydal won clean.

CHRISTIAN CAGE INTERRUPTS A JUNGLE BOY INTERVIEW TO GIVE HIM A PEP-TALK- good
I’m sure we’ll find out down the line if Christian also believes what he told Jungle Boy that Kenny and others believe about him (that he doesn’t deserve this title shot).

JADE CARGILL & MARK STERLING PROMO- This was the first one of these that I thought was good, but it doesn’t change my opinion that Mark Sterling is a dork who makes Jade feel like a midcarder and not a major rising star.

ALEX MARVEZ INTERVIEWS THE NON-FTR MEMBERS OF THE PINNACLE- decent

CHRIS JERICHO AND JAKE HAFTER ATTACK THE PINNACLE DURING THEIR PROMO-good
They brawled to ringside, where the numbers game caught up to the babyfaces. MJF had Jericho’s injured arm trapped and Spears was about to hit it with a chair when he was distracted by Sammy Guevara’s music playing. Just swing the chair, dummy! He can’t run down the ramp fast enough to stop you!
The dumbass heels decided to forgo the numbers advantage that they had used just moments ago and instead act like dumb A.I. and attack Sammy one at a time, so they got beaten up. Then Sammy cut an awesome promo, which is what elevated this from “meh” to “good.”

MIRO PROMO- awesome!

ETHAN PAGE (w/Scorpio Sky) vs. BEAR BRONSON (w/Bear Boulder)- 5.75/10
Bear Country’s masks are extremely dumb. Also extremely dumb is the fact that the announcers want me to be upset that Sky and Page beat Darby Allin up two on one in a match that was only wo on one because Darby wanted it to be.
This was okay. Ethan Page should not need to cheat to beat someone as far down on the card as Bear Bronson.

ETHAN PAGE PROMO- decent
He said that beating Darby Allin wasn’t enough and that he wants to be “the nail in your coffin,” so he challenges Darby to a Coffin match at Road Rager. This is a rather random stipulation, but the personalities involved make it work.

DR. BRITT BAKER D.M.D. & REBEL PROMO- fine

VICKIE GUERRERO & NYLA ROSE PROMO- bad
Vickie was… Vickie. Nyla was fine for the half sentence she spoke before they made her put Vickie over. It makes Nyla look dumb trying to tell us that Vickie will be a threat to anyone.
Also, Nyla is getting her title shot at FyterFest. I really hope that’s not Vickie’s big surprise. That would be extremely underwhelming.

THE BUNNY (w/the Blade) vs. KRIS STATLANDER (w/Orange Cassidy)- 5.5/10
Ross said that Statlander told him that she has changed her diet recently. Doesn’t she only communicate by nose-booping?
Remember last month’s PPV, where Orange Cassidy got screwed out of the world title? Yeah? They sure have followed up on that well, haven’t they?
Stuff happened. “The Big Bang” would be a much better name for Statlander’s finisher than “The Big Bang Theory.”

POST-MATCH SEGMET- Other members of the Hardy Family Office came to beat up OC. Chuck and Trent were not here because Chuck was staying in the hospital with Trent while he had surgery for spinal stenosis. That sounds like it should be a bigger news story than just a passing comment by the announcers. Blade hit OC in the jaw with brass knuckles. If I cared about Orange Cassidy, this would have been a good segment.

EARLIER TODAY, TONY SCHIAVONE INTERVIEWS Q.T. MARSHALL- fine promo by Q.T.

BRIAN PILLMAN JR. PROMO- This was good until that last line. “I’m going to check your ego and defeat you for the TNT Championship?” UCH! That sounds like WWE verbiage instead of something natural.

EDDIE KINGSTON, PENTA EL 0M, & ALEX ABRAHANTES PROMO- good, but…
Kingston calling Penta his “best friend” again comes off as comedic, and Abrahantes should not be the one doing Penta’s catchphrase.

AEW WORLD TITLE MATCH: Kenny Omega(c) vs. Jungle Boy- 9/10
Don Callis was on commentary for this match. Everyone’s friends were ejected from ringside before the match started because Marko Stunt was a hyper little turd. The heels tried to come back later but were fought off by Jurassic Express and Frankie Kazarian.
As for the match itself, it was absolutely tremendous. This match was everything that is great about both of these men on full display.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- good
Omega tries to attack Jungle Boy after the match but Christian Cage makes the save. The Hardy Family Office members who we didn’t see earlier come out to attack him but he fights them off. Then the Young Bucks came out and took Christian out.


This was a better episode of Dynamite than usual, with some solid angles and an excellent main event. There were certainly some negatives on this show, but most of those were kept short.