Will the American Dragon slay a Young Buck tonight?

Bryan Danielson wants a rematch with AEW World Champion, Kenny Omega, but he’ll happily take on the rest of The Elite, starting with Nick Jackson!

OFFICIAL RESULTS

• Bryan Danielson VS Nick Jackson w/ The Elite; Danielson wins.
• Triple Threat: Thunder Rosa VS Nyla Rose w/ Vickie Guerrero VS Jade Cargill w/ Mark Sterling; Cargill wins.
• Hair VS Hair: Orange Cassidy VS Jack Evans w/ Matt Hardy; Cassidy wins, Evans gets his hair cut.

PLAY BY PLAY

Bryan Danielson VS Nick Jackson w/ The Elite!

After running off “Kenny No Balls” and his buddies, someone finally stepped up from within their ranks! With his brother, Matt, and cold spray crony, Brandon Cutler, in his corner, will Nick prove he is still a top EVP, #ExtremelyViolentPerson?

The bell rings, they circle but it’s almost Bryan chasing Nick around the ring. Fans rally up for Bryan, he and Nick tie up and Bryan powers Nick to a corner. Nick uses ropes as a defense but then gets a sucker punch in! Nick headlocks, hits a takeover, but Bryan fights up to power out. Nick runs Bryan over, soaks up the heat then runs, but Bryan drops, hurdles, only for Nick to hold ropes and avoid the roundhouse. Bryan storms over into a boot, then Nick slips out to the apron to then flip away and avoid Bryan’s attack. Nick sprays himself down, even down below. But Bryan DIVES and takes Nick out at the ramp!

Bryan puts Nick in the ring, climbs up the corner, and leaps to missile dropkick! Nick flounders to the far side but Bryan KICKS him in the chest! And ROCKS him with a EuroUpper! Bryan gets a leg, trips Nick up and hooks the legs up. Bryan fish hooks Nick’s face. The ref counts and Bryan lets off because he’s got ’til 5. Bryan gets the arms and pulls Nick back into the ROMERO SPECIAL! And then shifts to a chinbar! Then a dragon sleeper! Nick claws Bryan’s face and gets free! But Bryan KICKS Nick’s legs! Nick kicks back, throws forearms but Bryan uppercuts back! Nick knees low, throws more forearms but Bryan uppercuts again!

Bryan whips but Nick flips with the ropes to come back and LARIAT! Nick stomps Bryan over and over, but he lets off as the ref counts. Fans mock Nick but he springboards in, but Bryan catches him for a BUTTERFLY SUPLEX to an ARMBAR! Nick gets the ropebreak but Bryan lets off. Bryan stands Nick up, wrenches the arm to a wristlock then ELBOW BREAKER! Then a hammerlock against the ropes, and Bryan mugs Nick with forearms over and over and over! Bryan wrenches to another ELBOW BREAKER, then a BIG back suplex! Cover, TWO! Bryan keeps on Nick with another hammerlock and he KNEES Nick in the back.

Nick endures as Bryan bends the other arm back, all the way to the finger! He even claws the elbow! Bryan stands on the other arm and gets Nick in a recliner cradle, TWO! Bryan still has the hammerlock but Nick throws elbows. They end up in a corner, Nick is free of the hammerlock and he RAMS into Bryan. Bryan CHOPS Nick off his feet! Bryan KICKS Nick against ropes, CHOPS again, then CHOPS! KICK, CHOP, repeat! Then a wrench, wristlock and Bryan pushes up on the elbow. But Nick throws forearms in return! And a ROUNDHOUSE! Nick goes up and up and FLYING ARM-DRAGS! Bryan ends up in a corner, Nick runs in but Bryan dodges the splash to come back!

Nick dodges, Bryan dropkicks buckles and hits the mat! Nick throws Bryan out and distracts the ref so Matt can SPEAR Bryan down! Matt throws down hands but gets away with it as he plays innocent. Cutler sprays Matt down while AEW goes picture in picture.

Matt and Cutler claim Bryan is down from a bad leg and the ref goes out to check him. Nick climbs up and wants Bryan to stand, then leaps for SUPER DIVING AX HANDLES! Nick goes Macho Man and Cutler sprays him before he puts Bryan back in the ring. Nick scrapes his soles on Bryan’s face then paces around as he stomps Bryan. Nick puts Bryan in a corner to dig his boot into Bryan’s face. The ref counts, Nick lets off and then goes corner to corner to SHINING WIZARD, and throw down fists! KICK, another big forearm, and BULLDOG! Nick seethes but fans rally up and Matt mocks them. Nick KICKS Bryan in the chest, then KICKS then KICKS then KICKS!

Bryan feeds off these would be Yes Kicks! Bryan stares Nick down and eggs him on, while leaning into the kicks! Nick keeps trying but Bryan keeps taking the shots! Nick backs up to get a running start, PENALTY KICK! But Bryan still stays up! Bryan SPITS in Nick’s face then throws EuroUppers! Bryan gives back YES KICKS then CHOPS, on repeat! Whip but Nick reverses, only for Bryan to go up and over! Bryan speeds up, ducks and dodges and LEAPING LARIATS! Nick sits up and Bryan says, “You wanna see how it’s done?” Bryan gives Nick KICKS from all sides! And then the BUZZSAW! Cover, TWO!

Nick gets to a corner and Cutler sprays him down but Bryan goes corner to corner to dropkick! And then corner to corner to dropkick again! And then again, into a SUPERKICK! Nick reloads to SUPERKICK again! Cover, TWO! Bryan survives those shots but Nick seethes as he drags Bryan to a drop zone. Nick climbs up top, 450 into knees! And then the LABELLE LOCK!! Nick crawls, ROPEBREAK! Bryan lets go and Nick flounders to the apron. Bryan goes out after him and KICKS Nick against the ropes. Nick wants mercy but he just gets KICK after KICK. They end up by the corner, Nick dodges and Bryan kicks post!! Nick gets back up to SUPERKICK Bryan down!

Nick hauls Bryan up, APRON GERMAN SUPLEX! Bryan falls to the floor and a ring count begins. Nick goes up and up and CORKSCREWS to take Bryan down! Nick gets Bryan back in the ring, has the legs and the SHARPSHOOTER! Bryan endures as Nick sits deep on the legs! Bryan powers up and crawls forward, ROPEBREAK! Bryan falls out of the ring, Nick goes to the apron, but Bryan ducks and the PENALTY KICK hits Cutler! Good thing he still has that face brace! Nick jumps but Bryan ducks to then GERMAN SUPLEX Nick inside-out! Matt protests but the ref tells him to get down. Bryan puts Nick in the corner and then runs over to DECK Matt!

But Nick rolls Bryan up! TWO, SUPERKICK! Nick aims again, but Bryan ducks the screw high to TIGER SUPLEX! Bridging cover, TWO! Bryan still has the arms and shifts to drive elbows into Nick’s shoulder over and over and over! Then the double chicken wings for the CATTLE MUTILATION!! Nick taps, Bryan wins!!

Winner: Bryan Danielson, by submission

The American Dragon wins, even with having both Bucks and a weasel against him! But as the Elite comes out to check on Nick, Christian Cage and Jurassic Express head out to reinforce him. And now it’s a brawl! Omega bails out because again, #KennyNoBalls. KILLSWITCH for Matt! TAIL WHIP for Nick! SNARE TRAP for Adam Cole!! Bryan dares Omega to do something for his friends, and the AEW World Champion actually gets in! But gets dragged right down to the LABELLE LOCK! Omega and Cole both tap!! Bryan and Jungle Boy let go of Omega and Cole, but can their fantastic four conquer the Super Elite at the Dynamite Anniversary?

Team Taz speaks.

Powerhouse Will Hobbs says, “So everyone check it out. The FTW Champion, Ricky Starks, has a special message for our favorite person, Brian Cage. ‘Ey, yo, Cage, listen up, chump.” Starks has a fully produced video, at that! “Me and Brian Cage, we are not the same and that’s obvious. You will never be able to compete with me because there is such a gap between you and I, Cage.” Starks gets into his Maserati as he says he is sick of this narrative that just because Brian Cage is bigger means he can whoop anyone. Starks never backs down from a fight, and he won’t let a “corn head” like Cage put him out. “That’s the Absolute Truth.” Will Starks prove that when he finally goes man to man against The Machine?

AEW hears from CM Punk.

“I view myself as a five tool player. I beat Darby, I survived Will Hobbs. I think the only thing I had up on Will Hobbs at Dynamite Grand Slam was experience and that experience paid off. He took his eyes off the prize, he collided with Hook, and I kinda slipped one over on him.” Punk feels it’s starting to land that fans are happy he’s back. It is settling in that he’s happy he’s back. There will be time to get down to business. People will come at him pretty fast because of the target on his back, and that’s how he wants it. He’d rather take too big of a bite and choke to death on greatness, than starve to death on mediocrity. He wants the best in AEW in the ring with him. Whoever steps up, just know that nap time is on the menu.

Triple Threat: Thunder Rosa VS Nyla Rose w/ Vickie Guerrero VS Jade Cargill w/ Mark Sterling!

By virtue of this being a Triple Threat, that means there are NO DISQUALIFICATIONS! Who stands tall as an alpha among alpha females when La Mera Mera, the Native Beast and #ThatBitch get to do whatever they want to each other?

The bell rings, Rosa dodges Jade to kick and CHOP, then she dodges Nyla to kick and ROUNDHOUSE! But Jade gets Rosa with both hands and picks her up! Rosa turns that into a wheelbarrow and BULLDOG of the knee! Nyla CHOPS Rosa, Rosa CHOPS back! Nyla CHOPS again, whips Rosa to the corner but runs into an elbow. Rosa boots Nyla, hops up top and leaps, into Nyla’s arms! Vickie laughs as Nyla hits a POWERSLAM! Cover, Jade breaks it up! Jade and Nyla stare down and Sterling is a little concerned. Nyla draws the line in the sand, Jade steps over it so the forearm start flying! Jade dodges and BOOTS Nyla down!

Jade flexes and talks trash, then she clotheslines Nyla out of the ring! But Rosa is up top and she missile dropkicks Jade out of the ring! La Mera Mera has the fans fired up as AEW goes to break.

AEW returns and Jade runs at Rosa but Rosa drop toeholds her to the ropes! Rosa runs to dropkick Jade in the back! Rosa runs to dropkick Jade in the chest! Rosa places a trash can on Jade now and runs to dropkick it into her! Cover, but Nyla breaks it in time! Nyla choke grips Rosa, aims for the can, but Rosa slips out to shove Nyla into Jade’s SPINEBUSTER! Jade dodges Rosa and BOOTS her down! Nyla dodges Jade to mule kick and NECKBREAKER! Nyla drags Jade to a HALF CRAB as Vickie shouts and applauds! Jade endures but Rosa runs in to dropkick Nyla down! Cover on Nyla, TWO! Jade and Nyla flounder but Rosa fires up with the fans!

Rosa runs at Nyla in the corner, but Nyla dodges the dropkick! Vickie laughs, Nyla drags Rosa to the apron and there’s a table nearby! Rosa fights the bomb, but Nyla SUPERKICKS! Nyla then hauls Rosa up top, climbs up to join her, but Rosa slips under! Rosa SUPER BOMBS Nyla through the table!! Fans are thunderous and losing their minds while Vickie is screaming her head off! Rosa drags Nyla up and into the ring, but Jade lurks with a chair at the ready. Sterling gives her the signal and Jade rushes in to SMACK Rosa down! And again! And again! And again! Jade bends the chair on Rosa’s back, covers, Jade wins!

Winner: Jade Cargill, by pinfall

Still undefeated by any means necessary! Will the #JadeBrand continue to make big moves in AEW?

AEW hears from Malakai Black.

“Still won’t do what is absolutely necessary, huh, Cody? Even after all that, you still won’t do it. Well, I want you to know, that when I hit you with that black mist, it came from the heart. And I hope that what I did has seeped into every part of your existence, every fiber of your being. Every nook, every cranny, and I hope it sits there and it festers while it eats you alive. Maybe then, Cody, maybe then you’ll understand what it takes to defeat someone like me. As far as this Nightmare Family, I’ve grown weary of you all. I hope what I did consumes you all.

“As for the rest, there are plenty of souls who need to know their truth. And there’s plenty of toll that needs to be collected.” Who will the House of Black look to enlighten with darkness next?

AEW shares what happened after Dynamite’s main event.

Celebration was in order for the NEW TNT Champion, Sammy Guevara, but what is next? Sammy said it himself that his goal is to be one of the best TNT Champions ever. But here in Rochester, we all know the greatest was Brodie Lee. Sammy even had it brought back to the black strap and red banner. Sammy hasn’t even had the title for a minute, and he’s being challenged by people. Bobby Fish showed up, wants his shot, but that’s fine! “Walk through the forbidden door, and I’m gonna send your ass straight to hell.” Will the Infamous One take this title right off of the Spanish God? Or will Sammy be celebrating even more on the Dynamite Anniversary?

Speaking of, the Dynamite Anniversary just keeps getting bigger!

On top of the big 8 Man, The Elite VS Danielson, Christian & Jurassic Express, on top of Hikaru Shida looking to make history with her 50th win, and on top of Sammy VS Fish for the TNT Championship, we now know four of the seven participants in this year’s Casino Ladder Match! Jon Moxley, Lance Archer, Andrade El Idolo and a returning PAC are in, as well as more participants we’ll hear about soon!

Mark Henry interviews tonight’s main eventers!

Matt Hardy shows off the scissors as he stands with Jack Evans. He sure seems angry about things, to the point where he’s put Jack Evans’ hair on the line against Orange Cassidy’s. And Evans doesn’t seem that happy about it. What’s the mood this week? Hardy acts like he has no idea what Henry’s talking about. Their mood is great. This was Evan’s brilliant brain child when he came to the ring with scissors. Hardy being an unselfish man, he won’t deprive Evans of the moment to shave Cassidy’s head and make him into a bald headed bum! Cassidy asks what tonight’s main event is again.

Well, what’re his thoughts on tonight? Cassidy doesn’t have any thoughts, he isn’t even sure what tonight’s stipulation is. Uh, it’s Hair VS Hair. The loser gets their head shaved. Oh. Well then Cassidy won’t lose then. Hardy says Cassidy will lose, and Evans won’t fail him! Then enough talk. It’s time for the main event!

Hair VS Hair: Orange Cassidy VS Jack Evans w/ Matt Hardy!

Freshly Squeezed doesn’t want to be freshly shorn, so he’s going to find the motivation to win! But will he roll the dice and lose against Big Money Matt’s high-flying and rather reluctant wringer?

The bell rings and Evans backs away to ropes, and then here comes Hardy! The ref keeps him back but Cassidy is distracted, and Evans rolls him up! TWO, and Evans grabs Cassidy’s hair! Evans says this is all going away, and he throws Cassidy by his hair! But Cassidy rolls through, and puts his hands in his pockets. Cassidy ducks the leaping kick, and unleashes the “devastating” kicks! But then he ducks and dodges Evans’ leaping kick again, and comes back with more! Cassidy powers up but he ducks Evans’ clothesline to backslide! TWO, and Cassidy pulls Evans’ long hair! They go around and around and around and then Cassidy SLAMS Evans down!

Fans cheer as Evans staggers away to a corner. But Hardy drags Cassidy out to ROCK him with a haymaker! Evans goes up and out and SCREW HIGH KICKS off the apron! Evans gets Cassidy in position and says he’s going to beat this Orange to a pulp! 450 SPLASH from the apron! Hardy talks more trash as AEW goes picture in picture.

Evans soaks up the heat as the ring count climbs. Hardy counts along and we’re at 5 of 10 before Cassidy stands up! Cassidy flounders, but he gets back up and in at 8! Evans stomps away on Cassidy at the ropes, hauls him up to a HIGH suplex, then covers. TWO, and Evans argues with the ref. The count is the count so Evans drags Cassidy up to KNEE him down. Evans drags Cassidy back up again, but Cassidy blocks the suplex! Evans CLUBS away on Cassidy, drives in elbows, but Cassidy goes to suplex! They fight for control, back and forth, and Evans turns suplex into cradle, TWO! Cassidy has the cradle, TWO! HIGH KICK hits this time! Cover, TWO!

Evans paces, drags Cassidy up and puts him in a corner. Evans handsprings and back elbows! Evans digs his boots into Cassidy, the ref counts and Evans lets off. Evans drags Cassidy up, throws him out, and Hardy again gets a cheap shot in! Hardy kicks then DECKS Cassidy, then Evans drags Cassidy up into the ring. Evans throws more knees, whips Cassidy corner to corner, then handsprings in to back elbow! Evans cartwheels to show off as he goes corner to corner again, but Cassidy sends him up and out of the ring! Cassidy then runs and DIVES onto Hardy! AEW returns to single picture as Cassidy gets back in and DIVES out onto Evans!

Rochester fires up as Cassidy puts Evans back in the ring. Cassidy climbs a corner, leaps, CROSSBODY! But Evans rolls through to a cover! TWO, BUZZSAW! Evans hits a STANDING SKY FLOP! Cassidy runs and dodges to tilt-o-whirl and- no, Evans turns DDT into NORTHERN LIGHTS! Roll through, scoop and MICHINOKU DRIVER! Cover, TWO!! Evans wants for Cassidy to sit up, PENALTY KICK to STANDING SKY TWISTER! Cover, TWO!! Evans is furious with the ref but Cassidy still survives. Evans drags Cassidy by his hair to a drop zone and then goes up the corner. PHOENIX FLOP! Cassidy rolls back and gets up to tilt-o-whirl DDT!!

Fans are fired up for “Freshly Squeezed!” as he climbs up, DEEP IMPACT!! Cover, TWO!?! Evans survives the flying DDT and even Hardy is shocked! But Hardy calls in reinforcements! The Butcher, the Blade & The Bunny are all here, but wait! Getting in their way are the Best Friends, Chuck Taylor, Wheeler Yuta & Kris Statlander! They’re even dressed as barbers in anticipation of this match! So out come Private Party, Angelico & Jora Johl! So here come The Dark Order! Meanwhile, a standing count has begun! Cassidy gets to a corner, Evans gets up and is furious but Cassidy hits an ORANGE PUNCH!! Cover, Cassidy wins!

Winner: Orange Cassidy, by pinfall; Evans will lose his hair

Hardy and his office are shocked! Angelico tries to save his tag partner and friend but Evil Uno steps up to DECK him! Hardy considers his options, and apologizes to Evans. This is about the greater good, the HFO is in full retreat! Best Friends sit Evans in a chair and Cassidy takes scissors to the ponytail! Off goes that chunk! Wheeler Yuta gets the electric razor and starts buzzing into the bangs and hairline! Chuckie T joins in on that, making an ice runway on Evans. Cassidy sweeps up for them and the Dark Order enjoys a front row seat to this. Cassidy shoves Evans out of the chair and they leave it at that!

Negative One joins Best Friends in the ring and gets himself a prop mustache! Then everyone GROUP HUGS! Got to give the people what they want!

But this humiliation may only be the beginning! Tony Khan has just named Orange Cassidy AND Matt Hardy to the Casino Ladder Match! Will Freshly Squeezed get another chance to go for gold? Or will Big Money Matt take this gamble and turn his fortunes all around?

My Thoughts:

A great night for Rampage! Bryan VS Nick was of course a great match, a great opener, and Bryan gets a great first win for his AEW rankings. I suppose if AEW sticks to their kayfabe and makes it so Bryan can’t just get his title rematch at Full Gear, he could definitely spend however many weeks having great singles matches against more members of The Elite, such as Adam Cole. Plus, that Casino Ladder Match could definitely be used to name Kenny’s Full Gear opponent. However, with rivalries making things cancel out, from Moxley and Archer fighting to Pac and Andrade to now Cassidy and Matt Hardy, I feel like the Joker will come out the winner.

The Triple Threat was a lot of fun and I am glad they brought out things like tables and trash cans but they really got gipped by not getting to have a picture in picture break. I thought Rosa was going to win because it could be a protected loss by Jade being out of the finish, but Jade winning to stay truly undefeated is fine. Rosa can take the long way to facing Britt Baker but that has to happen at some point. Ricky Starks had a good vignette to bring us a little closer to him and Brian Cage finally settling things, and Malakai had a good promo to essentially move on from Cody Rhodes and the Nightmare Family for now to take on just about anyone.

I wish in the recap of Sammy Guevara’s win that we got a moment of Bobby Fish on camera, since that moment got Corporate Synergy’d. But I do like that they continue to make the TNT Championship the belt that changes its official design the most often. Sammy VS Fish is going to be really good but I do not see Sammy losing that belt so soon. Then the Hair VS Hair match was good, but it was definitely more character stuff than anything. We got more great teamwork of Best Friends and Dark Order, all fan favorites, and of course Cassidy wins to keep his hair. I wouldn’t mind seeing the Dark Order as the HFO’s next main faction to feud with.

My Score: 8.5/10