AEW Dynamite: Chris Jericho’s Rock ‘N’ Wrestling Rager at Sea Results, Highlights and Grades

Live from the Jericho Cruise, AEW Dynamite’s Rock ‘N’ Wrestling Rager at Sea features a Tag Title match pitting SCU vs. Kenny Omega and Hangman Page. Plus, Jon Moxley faces PAC in a World Title number one contender’s match.

The show kicks off immediately with Scorpio Sky and Frankie Kazarian (with Christopher Daniels in their corner) of SCU defending their AEW Tag Team Championship against Hangman Page and Kenny Omega.

Kaz and Hangman lockup to start until they break into the ropes. Another lockup in the middle of the ring that Kaz turns into a waist lock, but Hangman reverses into a wrist lock. Kaz with a tight headlock takedown. Page struggles to push Kaz into the ropes, that’s how tight the headlock is.

Page finally does, but gets shoulder blocked and then Kaz gets right back into the side headlock. Page attempts a back suplex, but Kaz lands on his feet only to get forearmed into the face. They exchange clotheslines and forearms, but neither man goes down. Kaz finally takes Page down with a series of kicks, then a clothesline.

Take to Sky. The two trade chops before Page ducks a clothesline. Page punches Sky in the face and suddenly, things are aggressive. They shove each other and staredown before Page tags in Omega.

Kenny and Sky shake hands before locking up and displaying some amateur wrestling transitions. Sky wrenches Omega’s arm and shoulder blocks him repeatedly until Omega wrenches the arm and elbows Sky’s arm till the champion is on his knees.

Back to his feet, Sky gets headlocked. Shove to the ropes, but Omega shoulder blocks Sky, who kips up and wipes the dirt off his shoulder. Jay-Z would be proud.

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Sky lands on his feet after a back suplex reversal, but cannot reverse a Famouser for a two count. Page tags himself in and immediately knocks Kaz off the apron before isolating Sky in the corner. Whip to the ropes. Catches Sky with a fallaway slam and kips up himself.

Sky tags to Kazarian and both men kick Omega and Page off their feet. Scoop slam to Page by Kaz, then a springboard leg drop for a two count. Tag back to Sky for a double shoulder block. Only a one count.

Tag back to Kaz, who suplexes Page for a two count. Whips Page to the middle rope and Page bounces into a German suplex. Omega runs in to break up the pin attempt, then brawls with Sky before the ref separates the two back to their respective corners.

Tag to Sky, who snapmares Page and kicks him in the face. Tag to Kaz, but Page back body drops Sky outside the ring and lariats Kaz off his feet. Page goes to hot tag Omega, but Sky dropkicks Omega off the apron. Kaz capitalizes with a Back Stabber and Unprettier to Page for a two count.

Off the ropes, Page ducks a clothesline, but the two double clothesline each other off their feet. Hot tag to Sky and Omega. Sky reverses a Dragon Suplex, but gets hurricanrana. Kaz gets Dragon Suplexed before Sky catches a Fisherman Buster for a near fall.  Page and Hangman hit tandem shooting star and moonsault combo.

Omega with a knee attempt but Sky reverses that and a One Winged Angel attempt before hurricana-ing Omega off the top rope. He picks him up for his TKO finisher, but Omega wiggles out. Page goes for a sprinboard clothesline, but hits Omega accidentally. Sky hits the TKO, but Page breaks it up at the near fall to send us into a commercial.

Back from break, Page hits a discus lariat on Kaz for a near fall. Then a fallaway slam off the top rope. Tag to Omega, who dropkicks Sky off the apron. Him and Page take turns doing moves, including an assisted German suplex. Omega hits an underhook piledriver on Kaz for a near fall.

Omega goes for a V-Trigger, but gets cut off by Sky. They hit the SCU Layer, but Page pushes Sky into the pin attempt to break it up at 2.9. Page tosses Sky out the ring after tagging Omega.

Page hits a Buckshot Lariat to both Sky and Kaz to win the belts. Young Bucks hit the ring to celebrate with Omega and Page, but while them and Omega celebrate in the ring, Page goes in the crowd to drink beer with the fans and crowd surf (which, admittedly, was a cool visual).

Winners (And NEW): Page and Omega

Grade: B

Loved the gradually build of this match. Started off slow (though not in a bad way) then gradually climb its way into a more faster paced, higher octane action contest as the stakes felt raised by the minute. Stellar contest.

Also thought it was interesting that they were able to continue Page’s descent/heel turn tease without predictably breaking them up due to a mid-match miscommunication.

Britt Baker vs. Priscilla Kelly

Lockup to start until Baker locks in an arm wrench into a headlock takedown. Full nelson transitioned, which she turns into a crucifix pin for a one count, then another pin for a one count. She does a suplex variation for a one count. Kelly can’t get a roll up pin on Baker, but does wrench the arm into a super kick transition.

Kelly puts her in the corner for a chop. Then a face wrench into the ropes. Stomps into the bottom corner. Then another submission into the ropes. Baker is in turmoil until she pulls Kelly by her hair to the mat, followed by a clothesline. Shining Wizard into the corner, followed by a sling blade off the ropes for a two count.

PK recovers with an STO for a two count. Baker ducks a knee strike but hits a thrust kick into Lockjaw for the submission victory.

Tony Schiavone interviews Baker on her character after the match. Baker makes fun of Tony, saying this new gig is his “meal ticket,” saying he was working at Starbucks before this. She panders by saying the fans who look up to her as a role model and the “hottest girl on this boat.” Baker’s promo is cut off mid-promo by a commercial break.

Winner: Baker

Grade: C-

Something about their chemistry just felt off here. Which I feel bad in saying because I’m a big PK fan. But the heat wasn’t there for this (maybe the crowd was winded after that last contest) but something  just wasn’t clicking here.

I’ll say this though, I am interested in this Baker heel turn. As someone who’s been struggling to connect with Baker as a character for some time, it seems like this heel turn could be just the soul searching she needed. We’ll have to wait and see where this goes, though.

The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, Santana and Ortiz) vs. Jurassic Express (Luchasaurus, Jungle Boy and Marko Stunt)

Appropriately, Chris Jericho and Jungle Boy start this one off. Staredown and some jaw jacking until Le Champion slaps Jungle Boy, who responds with a series of forearms and a dropkick. Ortiz tags himself in, only to get a hurricanrana, but avoids a dropkick and constantly rakes Boy’s back.

The Boy slaps Ortiz in his chest and dropkicks him for a one count. Tag to Luchasaurus with an assisted Paydirt. Then, tag to Marko, who splashes off Lucha’s shoulders, but the ref somehow didn’t see the tag and doesn’t count that or the pin attempt. But she does see the trio hit an assisted tornado DDT.

Then a tag to Luchasaurus, who Big Boots him. Tag to Marko with a series of punches before tagging Santana. Boy with punches off his own, then a snapmare into a kick to the back for a two count. Santana recovers with a chop. Back suplex attempt, but Jungle Boy lands on his feet.

Boy gets pushed into the Inner Circle’s corner. While Santana distracts the ref, Boy chops Ortiz off the apron before Jericho punches Boy in the face. Santana Russian leg sweeps JB off the top rope, sending us into a commercial break.

Back from break, Jericho is stomping on JB’s hair and wrenching him by the arms. Whip to the ropes, but JB reverses with a roll up. Two count before a clothesline by Jericho. Take to Santana, who does the same hair wrenching stomp before hitting a backbreaker. Another two count.

Take to Jericho, who hits an assisted kick to the gut. JB rolls him up again for another two count. Jericho slaps JB again as he sets him on the top rope. Attempts a suplex, but JB punches him in the gut and pushes him off to hit a diving crossbody for a two count.

Jericho is holding JB by his foot, stopping him from the hot tag and dragging him back to his corner to tag Ortiz. Proud n Powerful hit two back to back sentons, then a splash for a near fall. JB struggles to fight back, but uppercuts Ortiz into the corner. Of the ropes, JB hits a reverse rana. Both men down.

Hot tags to Lucha and Jericho. Lucha with a comeback spot laying out all of Inner Circle. He attempts a Chokeslam to Jericho, but Ortiz rakes the back. Lucha punches him in the face to knock him down, before double chokeslam him and Jericho, then standing moonsault on Jericho for a near fall.

Jake Hager punches Lucha from behind while the ref’s back is turned. After he tags Marko Stunt in, Hager and Lucha brawl to the back.

Stunt with a 450 Splash to Jericho for a near fall. Series off roll ups, but only a near fall every time until Jericho hits a Judas Effect out of nowhere for the win.

Winners: Inner Circle

Grade: B+

Really great match here. Jungle Boy plays a great underdog while Luchasaurus is an excellent big man monster. Like JB,

Joey Janela vs. MJF

Lockup to start, but MJF easily shoves off Janela to the ground. Another lockup, but MJF wrenches the arm. Janela kips up to his feet. MJF with a ground headlock. Janela kips up to lock in a headlock of his own. Stalemate back to their feet.

MJF teases a handshake, but Janela slaps it away and MJF spits in his face. Series of punches that causes MJF to walk to the back, but Joey chases after him, just for MJF to rake his eyes up the ramp. He runs at Janela, only to get back dropped back into the ring. Janela climbs to the top for an elbow drop, but MJF rolls away into the corner, hiding behind the ref.

Janela moves the ref out the way, only to get punched in the face and arm whipped into the turnbuckle. Scoop slam to the middle of the mat before we get a commercial break.

Back from break, Janela suplexes MJF to the mat off the top rope for a near fall. Janela goes to the top rope for the elbow, but he’s briefly distracted by his ex Penelope Ford and her new boyfriend Kip Sabian smooching up the ramp. He tries to ignore it by going to the top, but after waiting too long, MJF gets out of the way and hits a Cross Rhodes for the win.

Winner: MJF

Grade: C

This match had its moments and its spots, but not the most interesting or exciting match overall. MJF is a tremendous heel character and did a great job amping that up during the match, but his in-ring work in general needs work. Meanwhile, Janela only just started being pushed recently, so it felt like a foregone conclusion he’d lose to someone who’s been pushed since the premiere episode. Ergo, this stuff killed the excitement for me.

After the match, MJF cuts a promo. “You people love me, huh?” He asks as the crowd boo him mercilessly. “In a world full of mumble rappers, you, Cody, are a real lyricist.” That is a real sentence that came out of MJF’s mouth.

MJF criticizes Cody’s promo from the previous week, promising to be Cody’s last chapter. Out comes Cody on cue. MJF points out that Wardlow’s not here, but he also reminds Cody that per stipulation, Cody cannot touch him no matter what he says or does per the stipulation before their match.

MJF goads him about it before flipping him off on his way out the ring. But Cody reminds MJF that even though he can’t touch MJF, but his friends can. MJF turns around into a double superkick from the Young Bucks before being tossed in a pool at ringside.

Afterwards, Tony Schiavone is interviewing the new AEW Tag Team Champions. Omega says he’s happy to win the belts with one of his best friends while Hangman gets cut off in mid-gloat. He’s then frustrated when the Young Bucks interrupt him again in mid-promo to congratulate them. So he gloats about winning the belts before they could before walking away.

Jon Moxley vs. PAC

Before the match, the AEW Champion and boat party host Chris Jericho arrives to the commentary table to watch the match firsthand. It’s worth noting that Moxley came to the ring with a bandage over his eye after getting stabbed in the eye by Jericho last week.

As for the match itself, it starts with a test of strength before PAC gets a waist lock, then Mox with a drop toe hold to separate the two. Lockup, but PAC gets a headlock immediately. Off the ropes, PAC shoulder blocks Mox, but Mox bounces off the ropes for a shoulder block of his own.

Waist lock by Mox, but PAC with an elbow to Mox’s eye. Stand and switch by Mox to recover with a German suplex. PAC recoevers by headlocking Mox, then punching him in his injured eye, then raking into it with his boot in the bottom corner.

He then mounts Moxley and clobbers him from behind, pounding into his eye. Combination of knees and stomps to Mox’s eye. Mox tries to recover with forearms. Runs at PAC, but PAC tosses him over the top rope. Outside, he slams Mox eye first into the mat. The ref checks on Mox’s injured eye as we go to our final commercial break. During the break, both men brawl into the crowd. Best spot is Moxley smashing a cup of beer into PAC’s face.

When the commercial is over, Moxley tries to bring PAC back into the ring, but Mox gets punched in his eye. Dropkick off the top by PAC, who gets dropped afterwards by a clothesline. Back to their feet, they trade forearms until Moxley hits a Crash Landing suplex for a two count.

PAC recovers with a jawbreaker over Mox’s eye (let’s call it an “eyebreaker” for one night only). He sets Mox on the top rope for a suplex, but Mox pushes PAC off. Goes for an elbow drop, but PAC gets his knees up. Reverses a Brutalizer into a crucifix pin for a two count. PAC recovers with several kicks (and one dropkick) to Mox’s eye for a two count.

PAC climbs up for a Red Arrow, but realizes Mox is too close to the ropes. PAC settles on a 450, but Mox gets the knees up for a two count. Mox attempts a sleeper hold, but PAC fights it off until Mox has to hit a German suplex. PAC climbs up once more, this time for a Red Arrow, but Mox rolls out the way.

Mox reverses a pump kick, turns him around and hits a Dirty Deeds for a near fall. Mox climbs to the top, but PAC leaps up for what appeared to be more of a brainbuster off the top, into the Brutalizer submission hold. Mox refuses to tap before getting his foot on the bottom rope.

PAC rips Mox’s bandage off to punch Mox in the injured eye. Mox suddenly rolls PAC up, then hits an even more sudden Dirty Deeds, then a Paradigm Shift for the win.

Jericho stares down his AEW Revolution opponent from atop the ramp to send us off the ramp.

Winner: Moxley

Grade: B+

Mox essentially wrestling with an eyepatch easily could have looked goofy, but seeing how the injury was incorporated into the match’s psychology. I really liked how the match was laid out. Both men displayed great chemistry as well. Great match.

Overall Grade: B

While not every match or moment hit perfectly, it was a good episode overall. While the “arena” backdrop looked like how most of their Dynamte tapings look, the atmosphere on the boat was electric and seeing the cruise members so hyped up added some much needed energy to a lot of matches. Felt like a very fun, unique episode as a whole.