AEW Booms/Duds: Cody Rhodes vs. Darby Allin could be the most storied rivalry

AEW Dynamite advertised a stacked show including hearing from World Champion Jon Moxley and two semifinal matches in the TNT Championship Tournament, highlighted by the third encounter between Cody and Darby Allin. Here are the “booms” and “duds” for Apr. 29.

I’ve continually praised AEW for the production of their empty-arena/taped shows. I’ve also criticized them for holding shows in the first place, including Double or Nothing in a few weeks.

To their credit, I’ve also highlighted how AEW is allowing talent to stay home and avoid shows if they feel unsafe with no repercussions.

AEW has done remarkably well in terms of creating segments to fill their taped shows, particularly in the video packages/segments we have received hyping Moxley vs. Jake Hager and the Scorpio Sky story that began last week.

However, with AEW resuming live airings next week, will they regress to the mean of having minimal videos, continue with their pace of almost untenable videos, or find a happy medium between the two?

The (probably) unnecessarily long Kenny Omega match last week aside, it hasn’t felt like AEW is just trying to fill time. Rather, it seemed like AEW was doing their best to make the most out of every second of their two-hour show.

Did that continue last night?

As a reminder of my criteria, I’m not going to run through each match/segment. Rather, I will identify a couple of segments that either worked (“boom”) or didn’t for whatever reason (“dud”).

My criteria includes quality of match/segment and how it starts and/or builds stories. After all, we watch partly to be caught up in the stories. If a great work-rate match happens with no context or bearing on the stories, it’s going to be a miss.

Also, just because something is a hit/miss doesn’t mean it was an overwhelming choice. The selection could be 51 percent hit, 75 percent miss, and so on.

There are other subtleties to my criteria, but those are pretty much the parameters.

Boom: what could end up being AEW’s most storied rivalry

Heading into last night’s match, Cody held the edge over Allin 1-0-1. Their first match at Fyter Fest saw the breakout moment for Allin as he threw his body around at Cody’s behest yet survived just barely for a 20-minute draw.

Their second match on Dynamite had Cody pick up the victory more decisively in what was another competitive match.

Each match saw Allin improve and nearly figure out the advantages of Cody’s years of experience and technique. Was he able to solve the “Millennium Puzzle” so to speak last night?

This was another great match between the two, which is expected at this point considering their previous two encounters. We also saw a different side to Allin than we have thus far in AEW: the technical, methodical, limb-targeting tactician.

After Cody tweaked his knee trying to matrix his way out of a pin, Allin immediately hit a chop block and began working the left knee. He eventually targeted both knees, applying a kneebar and figure four during the match.

Playing into the tactician role, Allin hit Cody with a Cross Rhodes in an attempt to win and why not? He’d tried everything else through two and a half matches (at that point). Cody kicked out, but this other side of Allin was a nice change.

Cody tried his best at repaying the favor by attempting a Coffin Drop only for Allin to lift his knees. He then set Cody up for his own coffin drop, which he hit.

Yet, he still lost. Cody used the force of the maneuver to basically crucifix pin Allin, who in turn was trying to apply his Last Supper pin (a great touch to make it more believable). If the match were scored on points, Allin was winning until the pin, so this helps protect Allin as he lost to a leverage pin while looking to apply his own leverage pin.

Cody faces Joey Janela next week, though I’m not necessarily sure if there will be a storyline reason for Janela facing a top-ranked wrestler seemingly out of nowhere. I hope it’s something more than “Janela challenged/insulted Cody.”

An aside: what was the point of having Brandi return during the match to hand a bottle of water to Cody? What purpose did the water bottle serve?

While many correctly predicted the final match that will take place at Double or Nothing, I’m not sure if Cody or his opponent necessarily needed to be in this tournament. However, I do see two outcomes. One, Cody wins and has a John Cena U.S. Championship Open-esque run to elevate the title.

Two, his opponent becomes the inaugural TNT Champion, and Cody embarks on a long redemption story to an eventual World Championship match in 2021.

Speaking of his opponent at Double or Nothing…

Boom: a more vulnerable yet still dominant Lance Archer

(Poor khaki-wearing fella.)

I continually enjoy Archer just decimating any random person or his opponent during his entrance. It always makes me chuckle.

What Archer has done since his second week in AEW has been nothing short of star-making (aided, of course, by Jake “The Snake” Roberts) as I wrote two weeks ago. Remember, his first week he just sat in the crowd with Roberts, not doing much of anything.

Considering all of his matches were virtually squashes until last night, Archer did his part in those matches by coming off mean, vicious, devastating, and applying those traits to his moves. The height he achieves on his chokeslam is ridiculous. Even though Colt Cabana did get some offense, it was still a pretty one-sided match. We had never seen a truly precarious Archer in the ring yet.

Last night, that changed, and it didn’t take anything away from Archer. It wasn’t quite clear if the retirement stipulation was still in place heading into the match, but since Rhodes implemented that the week prior, it only made sense that Rhodes would come out with nothing to lose and provide a true fight for Archer.

(On the retirement front, Chris Jericho and Tony Schiavone on commentary sure made it seem like the stipulation was still in place, much like Ric Flair’s retirement story in WWE a dozen years ago. I hope we gain some clarity on this front in the next week.)

It also doesn’t hurt that Rhodes had 30+ years of experience to draw on, not to mention his size is more comparable to Archer than Archer’s previous opponents.

Rhodes provided a fight and more. He drew color (blood) early in the match, and part of me wonders if he bleeds so much in AEW because it blends in with his face paint. Something we were all reminded of during his match with Cody last year is Dustin Rhodes is superb at in-ring psychology and the art of storytelling.

His aptitude in those areas added to this match, particularly in his facial expressions and selling. It helps when you have an adversary like Archer who makes everything appear painful.

Much maligned as she is as a wrestler, Brandi Rhodes was excellent as Dustin’s manager last night in terms of constantly encouraging the latter and never wavering in her loyalty.

On that note, beyond the match probably being ten minutes too long, what I didn’t like was QT Marshall running down with a towel, ready to throw it in. As his tag partner, shouldn’t Marshall have been there to support Rhodes instead of Brandi from the beginning? Was Dustin really in such a state that foreshadowing that was necessary?

Also, if you tease a towel being thrown in, the match can’t end a minute later; there should be more drama!

I do like Archer using the Iron Claw into a pin as a finish, something more common during his New Japan days. It shows another vicious side of Archer.

Speaking of vicious, props to Jericho on commentary putting over the dangerous force that is Archer. After saying he’s going to contact Roberts about recruiting Archer to the Inner Circle, Jericho mentioned if Archer said no, they would have to “take him out.”

Also, after Allin crashed into Brandi with the momentum sending her into the barricade, did anyone else notice Brandi Rhodes was miraculously recovered with no aches or pains? My, the wonders a change in attire can do for you.

(This wasn’t the only instance of a couple having miscues on the outside resulting in a barrier crash.)

We’ve come to the final most of us predicted. I did write in the linked article earlier I was expecting Cody vs. Archer, but that I wanted to see Allin vs. Archer. Still, Cody has been Archer’s target and mission statement since day one in AEW, so wouldn’t it be sweet, sweet victory to not only defeat Cody, but become the first TNT Champion as well?

Boom: character-building videos for Scorpio Sky, Britt Baker, and Jon Moxley

Dud: fat-shaming, plus a prolonged “The Bubbly Bunch”

After praising last week’s video, last night had another great feature on Sky. Yes, again, these should have been played when Dynamite first started in October and at the latest, in the lead to his World Championship match with Jericho.

(Sky would have been perfect as the first TNT Champion. However, he appears to have been one of the first wrestlers to heed Tony Khan’s suggestion that any talent can stay home during the pandemic. Good for him for keeping his health and that of his family’s first.)

Last night, we heard from Sky about the formation of So Cal Uncensored (SCU) and his fears of joining two veterans and arguable legends in “The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian, formerly The Addiction. He didn’t want to be just some “third wheel,” and his moment came when he started saying, “This is the worst town I’ve ever been in!” on “Being the Elite.”

Sky is so charismatic that such an obvious heel line became endearing to fans, and just this one line allowed fans to see a glimpse of the personality of Scorpio Sky.

The best moment came when he said, “I don’t want to be good. I don’t even want to be great. I want to be a f***ing legend.”

FIRE.

If you weren’t “all in” (pardon the pun) on Scorpio Sky yet, I’d say jump on the bandwagon before it overflows (I been at the front for a minute, fam).

The Moxley promo at the beginning of this article was quintessential Jon Moxley. He’s off by himself in a rugged looking area, no other life-form in sight.

He’s able to cut a pure babyface promo without seeming like he’s pandering or trying too hard. He just feels like someone who genuinely loves pro wrestling and the connection he makes with fans representing them as World Champion.

He also said he would be on Dynamite live next week, and later in the show we were informed he would be facing Frankie Kazarian in a non-title match next week. Kazarian is consistently underrated in the ring, and next week should be a nice showcase for him in what will undoubtedly be a hard-fought loss to Moxley.

“DON’T. FORGET. TO CALL. YOUR GRANDMOTHER!”

Another visit to Baker’s dentist office was entertaining. We see Tanea Brooks, aka Rebel, as Baker’s makeup artist. Rebel is probably best known for her time in Impact Wrestling (though she was in one tag match on NXT). I like how Baker took Jericho’s gimmick of mispronouncing the names of others as she said “Reby” and “Reba” throughout without a care.

She was great as the person who knows people don’t necessarily like her, but wanting to get over how accomplished and great she is. This was shown when she pulled Rebel aside to tell her that if Rebel wanted this job, she needs to be much more effusive in her praise for Baker.

The posters displayed were great, each involving a victorious pose of her in AEW. The second one connected to Rule #2: Not everyone can be a role model, which we found out last night.

However, she didn’t need to fat-shame for her promo, particularly if her target really is only Schiavone. The pictures of her and Schiavone at the beginning of the video set this part up nicely, but she didn’t have to revert to such juvenile tactics.

I know that it’s supposed to be due to her heel nature and playing off the “chubby Whataburger faces” line, but she is more intelligent than that; she’s a doctor, after all.

As for “The Bubbly Bunch,” it started out fine (I also believe Jericho works out in leather pants, gloves, and a sparkly jacket). A “good old-fashioned Manitoba Melee” was a good thought and initially was great…but then just kept adding more and more people from Lou Ferrigno (yes, Jericho, that really was Big Lou) to Virgil (yup) and Vickie Guerrero.

Also, I remember being told there would be no invisible cameras in AEW. Welp.

Let’s see just how much of these videos carry over into the live shows. At least give me some more Scorpio Sky features, yeah?

Boom: once again, a diversity in squash matches

I continually praise the utilization of squash matches in AEW. I’ve been rather impressed with the diversity in squashes. WWE tends to have predictable squash matches in that there will be the hitting of signature moves and a victory within a minute. That’s not the case with AEW.

Wardlow has undoubtedly been helped by his last two matches. I’m not sure what we call it, but that drop-down knee he hits pulling his opponent off of the top turnbuckle is just nasty looking. His F10 is impressive; think of how much power, force, and speed you need to generate to throw another human being off of your body with such momentum they spin twice in the air before splatting on the mat.

(I feel like Wardlow is the type of wrestler Vince McMahon salivates over.)

My concern is how will Wardlow translate to longer-form matches? He did well against Cody, but that was one match months ago.

“Mr. Brodie” destroying Marko Stunt in deliberate fashion continues the story of Brodie Lee being a methodical analyst of violence and destruction. He purposefully chooses what to do to his prey and when. Stunt was just there to display the destructive nature of Lee.

Like Archer, Lee utilized a different finisher last night and one that looks even more impressive on a smaller opponent. Stunt may have been too short for Lee to hit his discus lariat without making it look like diving clothesline. Lee’s sit-down powerbomb looked so much more brutal than a Batista Bomb or Kevin Owens’ pop-up powerbomb. I felt the pain of Stunt on that one.

This brings me to Shawn Spears. In what was supposed to be a squash match against Baron Black (who looked like he came from Hyrule) and it was anything but that. Guess what, though? It totally works!

Why?

The character of Spears if that of an overly confident and arrogant heel who over rates his skills to his own detriment. Of course he’s going to enter a proverbial squash match and take almost as long as Omega did to defeat Alan Angels last week. That’s just who “The Chairman” is at this point in AEW.

Once again, AEW shows the spectrum of squash matches, including when a “squash” isn’t a “squash” yet still makes sense. I do fear squashes like these were more feasible for AEW with taped shows, so it will be interesting to see how many squash matches we see once AEW returns to live airings beginning next week.

-Boom: sometimes, an all-mayhem match is just what you need

The tag match between Best Friends and Jimmy Havoc/Kip Sabian wasn’t the greatest match ever, nor was it necessarily the best story told in the ring.

It was, however, a perfectly acceptable match that really was just what I, and I presume many of you, needed in terms of a cathartic release of pure mayhem.

I’ve discussed how Havoc has been pigeonholed as a deathmatch/hardcore wrestler even though he was trained in the traditional British style. Well, he became pigeonholed partly because he takes to these types of matches so well.

It was fun to see Trent and Chuck Taylor really let loose and let their creativity shine. That finishing sequence from Taylor was both cool and brutal. Trent putting his body through utter destruction was hard to watch mostly due to his bumping ability.

Also, much like what happened earlier in the show, Penelope Ford and Sabian had some miscommunication that resulted in Ford spearing Sabian into the ringside barricade. It seems like AEW is fond of repeating certain actions (like the tag match next week).

Also, I do wonder why in any sort of no disqualification tag match, whether traditional or multi-team, do teams even tag in and out? If there’s no disqualification, that means the ref really can’t do anything about not tagging in or ignoring the ref’s count.

I did like how Jericho (on commentary) said, “No rules, no DQ, but they still made a tag. Those are some honorable gentlemen right there.” What a way to both point out the absurdity of the rule while putting over the talent.

All in all, it was enjoyable. My only concern is we have another no disqualification tag match next week between Le Sex Gods (Jericho and Sammy Guevara) and Omega/Matt Hardy.

-Boom: “Technique by Taz” is a nice addition to the broadcast

I praised this last week, and I will again this week. Taz does a very good job of straddling kayfabe and non-kayfabe in his analysis. As wrestling fans, we know a “finishing” maneuver is only one because both parties understand the need to stay down for a 3-count (and not the stable).

Yet how Taz highlights these maneuvers is well done. In educating fans on Archer’s Blackout finisher, he makes a note to point out that Archer’s opponents are nine feet in the air at the apex of his maneuver. I love how they showed this was the case with both Stunt (a much easier person to perform Blackout on) and Colt Cabana, a much stockier and heavier wrestler.

I’ve already discussed just how impressive it was for Archer to perform his chokeslam on someone of Dustin Rhodes’ size; he had to be at least nine feet in the air for that, too.

I have a feeling this might be one of the casualties of returning to a live show and may be relegated to social media and/or Dark episodes. It would be nice to see one every few weeks on Dynamite if this is the case, however.

It will be interesting to see how AEW shifts again to live shows. I would rather they hold extended tapings like they did the past month if they’re having shows at all, but let’s hope AEW takes the necessary precautions and learned a thing or two from WWE’s misadventures into live shows during this pandemic.

Until then, please stay safe and healthy readers!