The end of last week’s “Dynamite,” which made it the longest-running wrestling show ever on the Turner networks, felt a little bit like a re-creation — on a lesser but more logical scale — of Lex Luger defeating “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan for the world championship in WCW August 1997.
It was the first time the WCW locker room got to celebrate a big win over the nWo, just like AEW did last Wednesday when Samoa Joe, Katsuyori Shibata and “Powerhouse” Hobbs defeated the Death Riders for the Trios Championships last Wednesday. It got a huge reaction from the Boston crowd and really came off as an important and feel-good moment.
You also saw Swerve Strickland neutralize the Young Bucks’ attempt to help the Death Riders as that feud grows, while Willow Nightingale took out Marina Shafir. The battle lines are clearly being drawn.
Like Luger putting Hogan in the Torture Rack, we got Samoa Joe putting AEW world champion Jon Moxley to sleep in the Coquina Clutch. It earned Joe an AEW championship match against Moxley after the Death Riders threw a temper tantrum on “Collision” that only elevated the moment more.
