BRM Reviews the 10/22/2021 Dynamite (ANDRADE VS. PAC!)

[Big Red Machine]

WORLD TITLE ELIMINATOR FIRST ROUND MATCH: Orange Cassidy (w/Chuck Taylor) vs. Will Hobbs (w/Hook)- 3/10
They did a nice little bit at the beginning playing off of the finish of the previous match, which was on Dark in July of 2020… and I know this because they made sure to show the relevant clip to us before the match! They also showed us a clip of Matt Hardy injuring OC’s ribs, which Hobbs also targeted in this match (I mean he targeted Cassidy’s ribs. Hobbs didn’t run into the production truck and attempt to destroy the film).
Matt Hardy was shown watching in the front row.
This was very good early on, with Hobbs dominating the match. Then Hobbs decided to be an idiot and argue with the referee (and risk a DQ by physically lifting the referee up and backing him into a corner), ALLOWING Orange Cassidy time to recover and roll him up for the win.

TONY SCHIAVONE INTERVIEWS PENTA EL 0M AND ALEX ABRAHANTES- bad
Fenix isn’t here because he was injured by the belt shot in the finish of last week’s match. That part was good. Abrahantes parading around with Fenix’s title belt was not.
Instead of talking, they noticed two fans in the front row with the masks that FTR wore last week. They ripped the masks off, but it wasn’t FTR. “WHO ARE THOSE LOSERS?!” Chris Jericho screamed on commentary. FTR swooped in and attack Penta and Abrahantes. Tully Blanchard came out, too, and they beat up Alex Abrahantes, a babyface move if ever I’ve seen one. Pac ran out, and despite having him outnumbered three on one, and despite FTR holding weapons, they ran away.

ANNA JAY vs. DR. BRITT BAKER, DMD (w/Jamie Hayter & Rebel)- 7/10
Anna Jay has greatly improved since AEW started. The last few minutes of this were quite good. They made Anna Jay winning feel like a real possibility, which I didn’t think it was going in. Britt won clean to set up the…

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- meh
Britt locked the Lockjaw in a second time, just to be mean. Tay Conti came out and made the save. Tay posed with Britt’s title. Didn’t Ruby Soho wind up posing with the belt a few weeks ago?

TONY SCHIAVONE’S SPLIT-SCREEN INTERVIEW WITH THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE MAIN EVENT- both men were very good.

EVERYONE IS BARRED FROM RINGSIDE: Andrade el Idolo vs. Pac- 8.75/10
This was an excellent “all big moves, but makes every single one matter” match. Lot so really impressive athletic stuff, too.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- groan
Immediately after the finish, the lights go out. Malakai Black has magicked himself into the ring. He spits his mist in Pac’s face, and he and Andrade attack Pac. Arn Anderson comes out onto the ramps and mimes shooting Black. This was a distraction so that Cody could attack from behind like a coward. I don’t care what Andrade said in his pre-match promo. Malaki Black doesn’t strike me as the sort of person who has friends. This felt like something that was shoe-horned in so that Cody could have a big “return,” which was completely f*cking pointless because they had already announced that he was wrestling Black the next night. This felt like Cody pulling a Hogan/Nash type of play and stealing the spotlight.



This was a great episode of Rampage, despite the rough start and finish.