Originally published at AEW Dynamite: Tony Khan buys ROH, MJF is the devil, Young Bucks win battle royal
AEW Dynamite
March 2nd, 2022
Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, FL
Commentary: Jim Ross, Excalibur & Tony Schiavone
Ring of Honor is All Elite
Tony Schiavone is in the ring with Tony Khan to present the major announcement. Khan starts by saying we will get to the wrestling soon and thanks all the fans but says tonight is a big night and this is the biggest week in the history of this company with Revolution this Sunday. Tony Khan brings up Ring of Honor starting 20 years ago and says that today he signed a deal to become the new owner of Ring of Honor and mention how Shane McMahon isn’t there and it’s true. Khan brings up Christopher Daniels & Bryan Danielson wrestling on that show and now Danielson is here in Daily’s Place for the first time ever and they are having the rematch.
Bryan Danielson vs. Christopher Daniels
They start the match with a handshake and go right after each other with holds and takedowns, with Danielson getting the upper hand, just to taunt and do jumping jacks. Daniels sends Danielson outside with a leg lariat, then takes him down with a moonsault off the ropes. Back inside, Danielson keeps Daniels down with kicks. They start trading chops, before Danielson flips off the ropes but gets hit with a Blue Thunder Bomb. Daniels hits an STO and runs to the corner, but Danielson stops him with a boot. Daniels catches Danielson off the ropes and drops him for a two count before calling for the Angel’s Wings. Danielson gets out and hits a German Suplex, followed by a running dropkick in the corner. They head to the top rope, but Daniels knocks Danielson down and hits a cross body, but Danielson reverses for a two and then into an arm breaker. They trade off multiple pin attempts then get into a punching battle, with Danielson knocking Daniels down with a rolling elbow for a two count. Danielson heads to the top rope, but Daniels knocks him down and goes for another Iconoclasm, but instead gets pushed off on a moonsault attempt followed by Danielson jumping off and getting caught. Daniels goes for the Best Moonsault Ever, but Danielson catches him and traps him in the triangle choke until the referee calls off the match.
Winner: Bryan Danielson by referee stoppage at 11:17
The Chapter Written in Blood
Bryan Danielson gets on the mic and talks about how it’s been 20 years since the first Ring of Honor show with him and Christopher Daniels in the main event and at that time they started matches with a handshake and they ended matches with a handshake. He goes to grab Daniels’ arm, and says he’s not in Ring of Honor, he’s in AEW and it’s time to kick somebody’s head in as he does just that to Daniels. He grabs the mic again and says to Jon Moxley, that on Sunday at Revolution the head that will be stomped in, is his. ‘Wild Thing’ starts playing as Jon Moxley makes his way through the crowd to the ring. Moxley talks about walking different paths, and one path is getting his head kicked in and never being heard from again, but that’s not going to happen as he chooses to walk another path and walking through a path of fire, bullets, and Danielson and at the end of it he beats the American Dragon, Bryan Danielson. The story of Jon Moxley is just starting and just beginning, and he writes the first chapter on Sunday, a chapter that will be written in blood. Moxley says since there are plenty of people watching right now, he challenges Danielson to take his shot, as he takes off his jacket and sweater and challenges Danielson, but instead, Danielson exits out and goes to the back.
It’s Showtime
We go to Darby Allin and Sting who talk about their upcoming match at Revolution and says they aren’t bothered by it, and they won’t need anybody’s help and no matter what happens on Friday, they will be on the same side as Sammy Guevara, but as far as Rampage goes; it’s showtime.
Casino Tag Team Royale
FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) are the first team in with Top Flight, being the second one, reuniting with Darius Martin back from injury. The third team is The Acclaimed (Max Caster & Anthony Bowens) with Max Caster doing a freestyle before going in the ring about being the top-ranked tag team and says he’s going to send FTR to ROH and mentions Top Flight being less popular than Glen Jacobs (Kane) tweets. Alan ‘5’ Angels and 10 of the Dark Order come in at #4. Number 5 are The Butcher & The Blade as all five teams are keeping the brawling going before FTR eliminates Alan Angels. The Varsity Blondes (Brian Pillman Jr. & Griff Garrison) come out at #6 as they go to picture-in-picture.
During the commercial, Pillman got eliminated while Bear Country (Bear Bronson & Bear Boulder) came out at #7, followed by Santana & Ortiz at #8 as they came back from picture-in-picture. Santana and Ortiz eliminate both Bronson & Boulder right away, as Dante Martin eliminates Max Caster. The Best Friends (Trent Beretta & Chuck Taylor) come out at #9. Bowens throws out Garrison as Evil Uno & Stu Grayson of the Dark Order come in at #10, as the Blade and the Butcher both get eliminated by the Dark Order. The Young Bucks music plays as they come out at #11 but they take their time walking to the ring as they go to picture-in-picture.
Peter Avalon and Ryan Nemeth of the Wingmen come in at #12 and take everybody down. When we came back from the commercial, The Gunn Club (Austin Gunn & Colten Gunn) came out at #13. They get distracted at the Ass Boys chants and get eliminated by FTR and the Young Bucks. Lee Johnson and Brock Anderson come in at #14, as Bowens takes out 10, followed by Ortiz taking out Chuck Taylor. Avalon & Nemeth get eliminated next by Matt Jackson & Evil Uno, as Stu Grayson gets eliminated. 2point0 (Jeff Parker & Matt Lee) come out as the final entrants. The Young Bucks eliminate Brock Anderson, followed by Bowens. Beretta and Uno fight on the apron, as Danhausen comes from under the ring and ‘puts a curse’ on Evil Uno, as Beretta eliminates him with a half-and-half suplex. Santana and Ortiz battle with 2point0 on the apron, and then eliminate them both, before FTR eliminates Santana and Ortiz. Matt Jackson eliminates Beretta as it’s down to three teams with the Young Bucks, Top Flight, and FTR. Dante Martin and Cash Wheeler both eliminate each other, before Matt Jackson and Dax Harwood brawl on the apron, but Harwood gets super kicked off the apron after Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish come out and distract him. It’s now down to the Young Bucks and Darius Martin, as reDRagon watches on. Darius tries to fight them off and tries to eliminate Nick Jackson, but Brandon Cutler is there to save him, before Darius knocks Matt into Nick eliminating him. Matt and Darius go at it, fighting on the apron with punches but Matt Jackson hits a low blow and a superkick to eliminate Darius Martin.
Winners: The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson; Matt Jackson being the sole survivor) at 27:00, to advance to AEW World Tag Team Championship match at AEW Revolution
The Young Bucks and reDRagon celebrate together in the ring, before Jurassic Express & Christian Cage come on the stage to stare them down.
Beating the Influencer
We go to Chris Jericho who is backstage and talks about the entire wrestling world buzzing about the announcement of Chris Jericho and Eddie Kingston facing off at Revolution before mentioning that Kingston doesn’t know what a promo means. Jericho mentions being a big star and Kingston is not one, and Kingston will finally get the chance to beat ‘the big one’, and tells Kingston to look deep down inside and see if he has what it takes to beat the Influencer and Jericho doesn’t think he does, but if Kingston does, Jericho will shake his hand and tell him he has his respect, but if Kingston doesn’t, Jericho will laugh in his face and tell him to GFY. Santana and Ortiz come in and give Jericho a pound, as Jericho asks if they are good, and he’ll always have their back.
The Greatest Trick the Devil Ever Pulled…
CM Punk comes to the ring wearing Bryan Danielson’s white tee as the crowd cheers for him. Punk mentions looking at himself in the mirror and asking if he’s the bad guy in his own story, and up to a week ago he was certain that MJF was the bad guy, and for MJF to bury his soul like that it takes courage, and courage he didn’t think MJF had. Punk mentions he might be being gaslit but doesn’t think MJF is lying and what he doubts is his sincerity and he doesn’t think it matters. Punk mentions a picture on the internet with him and Steve Austin, and when people said Austin took his ball and went home, Punk didn’t do horrible things. Punk mentions hearing MJF talk about Brian Pillman Jr.’s family and Darby Allin’s uncle says hurt people, hurt people. Punk says he can only say certain things to MJF’s face and calls him to come out. MJF comes out and Punk says he used to be him and poured alcohol down an alcoholic’s throat and mentions his feuds with Undertaker and other feuds and all this hate will not keep MJF warm, it’ll burn you up. This right now is bigger than the two of them and wrestling and is about that 11-year-old kid who looks up to MJF the same way he looked up to Punk, and that’s what this is about and he might be wrong but he splashes water in his face and asked himself a question, ‘are you the good guy’, and he finally had the answer, and that answer is ‘I sure am trying’, as he puts his hand out to shake MJF’s. MJF knocks his hand off and gives Punk a big hug, before Punk gives one back. MJF thanks him before kicking him down below and gives him a Heatseeker piledriver, taking off his button up to reveal a T-shirt with the old picture of young MJF and CM Punk. MJF calls out Wardlow and Shawn Spears who come out and give him the Dynamite Diamond Ring, which he uses to knock out Punk. Security tries to come out and stop them, but FTR is there to stop them. Punk is extremely busted open now, as they hang Punk from the ropes with a dog collar and MJF calls Punk a stupid old man before quoting the line from The Usual Suspects about the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist, but before they can do more, Sting, Darby Allin and Sammy Guevara come out to help Punk as the segment ends.
And I, Will Be There
Tony Schiavone is backstage with Keith Lee and talks about his upcoming match on Rampage, but he gets interrupted by Ricky Starks and Powerhouse Hobbs who say if Lee shows up at Rampage, he won’t make it to Revolution, and Lee says that he will be there.
Dr. Britt Baker DMD & Jamie Hayter (w/ Rebel) vs. Mercedes Martinez & Thunder Rosa
They start fighting before the bell rings before Baker and Rosa are the official two to start. Martinez and Hayter go at it before Rosa comes in and gets tripped up by Rebel before Baker superkicks Rosa and they go to picture-in-picture.
When we come back, Baker and Mercedes are going at it, with Baker trying to apply the lockjaw, but Mercedes escapes and tags in Rosa. Rosa and Baker go face to face to a lackluster reaction from this Daily’s Place crowd, hitting a Death Valley Driver, but Hayter breaks up the pin. Mercedes takes out Hayter and Rebel on the outside, as Rosa hits the Fire Thunder Driver on Baker and gets the pin.
Winners: Thunder Rosa & Mercedes Martinez by pinfall at 8:31
Nobody Cares About That Karate Shit
Alex Marvez is backstage with Tay Conti and Anna Jay and asks Conti how her judo background experience will help her, but Jade Cargill interrupts her and says nobody cares about that karate shit as Mark Sterling says the contract says Conti can’t touch her.
We go to a video hyping up Kris Statlander and Leyla Hirsch and their feud as Statlander says Hirsch is about to see a different side of her as Hirsch says she’d done talking.
Wardlow (w/ Shawn Spears) vs. Cezar Bononi
Right away Wardlow grabs Bononi and starts hitting powerbombs as Spears watches on. Wardlow eventually puts his foot on Bononi and gets the pin.
Winner: Wardlow by pinfall at 48 seconds
Spears goes to hit Bononi with the chair, but Wardlow stops him and stares Spears down, until Spears backs off and leaves.
Rampage Line-Up
· TNT Championship: Sammy Guevara (c) vs. Darby Allin vs. Andrade El Idolo
· Keith Lee in action
· Serena Deeb’s 5 minute challenge
· Face of the Revolution Qualifying Match: Ethan Page vs. Christian Cage
Before running down the AEW Revolution card, they announce Leyla Hirsch vs. Kris Statlander and Hook vs. QT Marshall for The Buy In.
The House Always Win
We get a promo from Malakai Black, Brody King and Buddy Matthews on Pentagon, who talk about violence, judgment, and the truth and the truth is that they are the House, and the House always wins.
Remember Who You Work For
Alex Marvez is backstage with Shawn Spears and Wardlow, as MJF comes in and tells Wardlow that if he wins the TNT title he can keep it, then says it’s not like he’s going to win anyway. Wardlow mentions how MJF can’t win without him, and MJF comes back in and slaps Wardlow and tells him to remember who he works for.
Adam Cole & reDRagon (Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish) vs. Adam Page, John Silver & Alex Reynolds
The two Adams start the match with Cole & Page as the crowd chants Cowboy Shit, but Cole immediately tags out to Bobby Fish. Reynolds and Silver come in and double team and take out Fish, before Reynolds dropkicks and takes down O’Reilly for a one-count. Reynolds gets held by O’Reilly by the ankle but hops over for the tag to Page, but Page chases O’Reilly in and out of the ring, but Fish is tagged in and attacks Page from behind. Cole goes for the Panama Sunrise, but Page catches him and they trade pin attempts, before Cole hits a kick but misses the Boom. Page goes for the Buckshot Lariat, but Cole escapes to the outside as they go to picture-in-picture.
When we come back, Page is double-teaming and takes out reDRagon including a fall-away slam on O’Reilly and a dive to the outside on Fish. All six men start brawling in the middle of the ring until it gets down to Cole and Reynolds, with Reynolds hitting a knee strike and kick in the corner, but Cole stops him with two superkicks and The Boom for the pin.
Winners: Adam Cole & reDRagon (Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish) by pinfall at 12:42
Cole keeps attacking Reynolds, but Page sets him up for the Buckshot Lariat, but Bobby Fish trips Page up. Cole and reDRagon start attacking Page and tape him up onto the ropes, before hitting the High Low on Silver and the Panama Sunrise on Reynolds. Cole places the title on Page’s shoulder and says it belongs to him