AEW Dynamite: Road Rager Review - July 7
Kenny Omega and “Hangman” Adam Page exchanged words at AEW’s Road Rager event in Miami, Florida. (All Elite Wrestling/411mania.com)
After spending more than 15 months holding episodes of Dynamite from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida, All Elite Wrestling took the show back on the road to kick off the month of July with their special event, Road Rager. With a large crowd in attendance at the James L. Knight Center in Miami, AEW had a stacked card that lived up to its potential.
The show started with the long-awaited South Beach Strap Match between Cody Rhodes and QT Marshall, representing The Nightmare Family and The Factory, respectively. The match’s rules followed that of a Four Corners Strap match, in which both competitors are restrained at the wrist on either end of a strap, and the first competitor to consecutively touch all four turnbuckle pads uninterrupted wins the match. Rhodes and Marshall took advantage of the stipulation, heavily utilizing the strap throughout and making the simplified win condition seem far from easy.
After Rhodes flattened Marshall with three-consecutive Cross Rhodes, his signature finishing move, he made the lap around the ring to take the victory. The crowd was being Rhodes the whole way, and with no involvement from either competitors’ allies in the finish, this could mark the end of the war between the two factions.
While Shawn Spears discussed his sabotaging of Sammy Guevara during the latter’s match with Max Jacob Friedman (MJF) on last week’s Dynamite, Guevara blindsided him with a steel chair, showcasing the ever-present tension between The Inner Circle and The Pinnacle ahead of a six-man tag match between the two groups later in the show.
AEW’s World Champion Kenny Omega was accompanied to the ring by Don Callis for an interview with announcer Tony Schiavone. Callis quickly called Schiavone off, claiming the microphone for himself and Omega before boasting about Omega’s history-making title reign. Callis boasted about Omega defeating “all possible challengers” for his championship, inciting a “We want Hangman” chant from the crowd; instead, Evil Uno led The Dark Order out and made his way to the ring.
Andrade El Idolo made his in-ring debut at Road Rager, earning a victory over Matt Sydal. (All Elite Wrestling/sportskeeda.com)
Uno stepped up to Omega and made the case for Dark Order affiliate “Hangman” Adam Page, which Omega responded to with a low blow (accompanied by a “Bangkok” pun), inciting a brawl between The Dark Order and The Elite member’s Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson and Michael Nakazawa. The Elite was ready to land a heavy blow to Uno, but Hangman finally made the save, fighting off Omega’s partners before staring him down with the title belt laid on the mat between them. Omega and Hangman finally crossing paths with the world title on the line should be the best work of Omega’s run as champion to date.
Jim Ross sat down for an interview with Darby Allin and Ethan Page ahead of their Coffin Match next week. Allin discussed his fast rise to stardom and the jealousy it created in Page, which Page confirmed and made the case that he is the reason for Allin’s successes. The history between these two should make for an intense matchup in Austin, Texas next week.
Next, The Pinnacle’s Dax Harwood, Cash Wheeler and Wardlow faced off with Santana, Ortiz and Jake Hager of The Inner Circle. The contest was fast-paced and hard-hitting, with all six men expertly highlighting the months of animosity built up between the factions. A distraction from Tully Blanchard allowed FTR to nail Hager with the Big Rig behind the referee’s back, and Wardlow made the cover to pick up the victory. After the match, Konnan, who accompanied The Inner Circle to the ring, attempted to sneak up on The Pinnacle with a loaded sock, but he was intercepted by Blanchard who took him out at the knees. The Inner Circle hasn’t found much success lately, so giving another victory to The Pinnacle here continued the trend of the war swaying in their favor.
Chris Jericho and MJF shook hands after their contract signing, only for Jericho to blindside MJF with a Judas Effect elbow. (All Elite Wrestling)
The leaders of the aforementioned groups, Chris Jericho and MJF, came out to discuss and sign the contract for their upcoming match. The two traded barbs, with Jericho even resorting to bringing up MJF’s mother, until MJF took a page out of Jericho’s book and named the stipulation for their match as a gauntlet match in which MJF picks Jericho’s first four opponents before the two finally face off. Jericho gladly accepted these blatantly one-sided rules and signed the contract, before faking a handshake to nail MJF with his finisher, Judas Effect.
Britt Baker complained to Tony Schiavone about being forced into last week’s tag match where she was power-bombed through a table, and her complaints about AEW President Tony Khan’s pandering to Vickie Guerrero included some shots at WWE and their relationship with the Saudi Arabian government. A surprising mention from Baker, especially considering it was hardly important or relevant to the story.
We next saw the in-ring debut of Andrade El Idolo as he faced off with Matt Sydal. Andrade’s Lucha libre experience made him a perfect match for Sydal’s high-flying style, and the two traded impressive offensive maneuvers throughout the contest. Andrade finished Sydal off with a hammerlock STO, referred to on commentary as El Idolo. Post-match, he used a belt to assist him in a cross arm-breaker, making a statement with his assault of the weak Sydal. The match was a fun watch, and hopefully, Andrade will maintain this momentum going forward.
Malakai Black, formerly WWE’s Aleister Black and Tommy End on the independent scene, made a surprise appearance at Road Rager and made a statement by attacking Cody Rhodes and Arn Anderson. (All Elite Wrestling/sportskeeda.com)
An interview of Arn Anderson was quickly interrupted by the former Aleister Black, a recently-released WWE performer, who laid out both Anderson and Cody Rhodes with his patented Black Mass kick. Called Malakai Black by Excalibur on commentary, Black’s debut and attack on The Nightmare Family rocked the crowd and got the biggest response of the night.
We then cut to footage from before the start of the show, when Ricky Starks took to the ring with his security detail to protect him from Brian Cage. Taz, flanked by Powerhouse Hobbs and Hook, attempted to talk sense into Starks, but Starks continued his tirade against Cage, causing him to come out and lay waste to Starks’ security guards. The two will face off for Cage’s honorary FTW Championship next week.
The Bunny and The Blade then teamed up in a mixed tag team match against Kris Statlander and Orange Cassidy of Best Friends. Statlander and Bunny did the heavy lifting for much of the match, as Cassidy and Blade saw almost all of their action in the match’s opening and closing minutes. Cassidy went for the Orange Punch but was laid out by Blade using his brass knuckles unbeknownst to the referee. Statlander had quietly tagged herself in, and the confusion this caused allowed her to take advantage and drop Bunny with the Big Bang Theory for the win.
American Top Team members and UFC stars Jorge Masvidal, Amanda Nunes and gym owner Dan Lambert were going to be interviewed from the crowd, but Lambert quickly grabbed the microphone and made his way to the ring while disparaging AEW and their product. Lambert was given more time than he probably should have been, but Lance Archer mercifully came down to the ring and put Lambert down with the Blackout. Lambert’s promo was good but dragged on too long, and he wasn’t relevant or well-known enough by the crowd for them to care all that much about him getting his comeuppance.
In the main event, The Young Bucks defended the AEW World Tag-Team Championship against Eddie Kingston and Penta El Zero M in a street fight. The match lived up to its stipulation, as the competitors utilized tables, thumbtacks, a garbage can and multiple instances of outside interference to inflict damage on their opponents. These four tore the house down, and The Young Bucks came out victorious after loading Kingston’s mouth with thumbtacks before landing a brutal superkick for the win.
AEW hit on all cylinders for this week’s show. Multiple high-quality matches, some great angles and a hot crowd all made for another good showing for Dynamite, and this momentum should carry into next week as they will kick off the two-week event Fyter Fest in Austin, Texas next Wednesday with yet another loaded card of matches.
