 "Hangman" Adam Page and Christian Cage def. Bang Bang Gang (Juice Robinson and Jay White)Page beat Robinson last month, White beat Page at Wrestle Dream, and Christian beat White on the subsequent Dynamite. Thus, there's bad blood between all four of these men. This was as well-wrestled as you'd expect and served as a fun preview of what to expect when Page and White run it back at Full Gear. It was wise to have the heels go over, even though I wasn't a fan of the cheap finish. Will Ospreay, Powerhouse Hobbs and Mark Davis Brawled with The Don Callis FamilyFletcher has stepping up his game on the mic as part of this program with Ospreay has been an encouraging sign for his future. Both men delivered their lines well here, though I wasn't a fan of Ospreay pointing out how Fletcher has accomplished nothing on his own. If Fletcher doesn't beat Ospreay at Full Gear, he'll be solidified as a loser after what Ospreay said to him here. The brawl that followed was logical and seamlessly segued into the Falls Count Anywhere match. Roderick Strong def. Lance Archer in a Falls Count Anywhere MatchYou can't tell me that Strong hasn't had the easier road to Full Gear than Adam Cole. I know Strong's opponents have been physically bigger, but Cole's opponents have been higher-profile and tougher to beat. At least Strong's third match happened on Dynamite and not on Collision like the other two. Honestly, this was one of the more boring Falls Count Anywhere matches I've seen, especially since there was zero chance Archer would win. AEW International Champion Konosuke Takeshita def. Adam Cole (Non-Title)Unsurprisingly, this was the best of Cole's three matches en route to Full Gear. I had a feeling Takeshita would win so it wouldn't be a three-way with Cole, Strong and MJF at Full Gear (wouldn't it have basically been a Handicap match if Cole and Strong's issues are with MJF and not with each other?), but I figured there would be interference. Takeshita cheating to win is fine because he's a heel, but the referee looked like a moron for not seeing that. Strong and Kyle O'Reilly (separately) made the save for Cole afterward, but O'Reilly walked away from both of them. Orange Cassidy Interrupted AEW World Champion Jon Moxley; Darby Allin Attacked The Death RidersPer usual, Moxley came out with the rest of Death Riders and spoke in cryptic riddles. It's been months and we still have no idea what the hell he's talking about, so as a result, it's difficult to get invested in anything he's doing. He and Cassidy had a pretty standard verbal exchange ahead of their AEW World Championship match at Full Gear. They also set up Cassidy vs. Wheeler Yuta for next week's Dynamite. Allin going after Death Riders was the best part of the segment. By the way, was this supposed to Moxley "seizing" the TBS SuperStation as advertised? Britt Baker def. Penelope FordFord just finished her feud with Jamie Hayter last week with a loss and is already back to being a stepping stone. That's why I was hesitant to care about that rivalry in the first place because I feared Ford wasn't going to benefit from it. Sure, she might get more television time now than she did two years ago, but racking up losses isn't going to do her any favors in the long run. This was a decent match, but the crowd clearly did not care. Serena Deeb emerged afterward, so I guess she and Baker will be running it back soon following their original encounter on the five-year anniversary episode of Dynamite. Swerve Strickland def. Lio RushI had no idea Strickland and Rush used to be close until the commentators brought it up. That helped make an otherwise random match more meaningful. This was fun for what it was despite essentially serving as a warm-up for Strickland before he faces Bobby Lashley at Full Gear. Post-match, The Hurt Syndicate laid out Strickland, but the crowd didn't sound too interested because they were too busy chanting "Bridgeport" after Strickland accidentally referred to the city as Stamford during his promo. Yikes. Kings of the Black Throne def. FTR in a Full Gear 4-Way Contenders Series MatchFTR and House of Black feuded at the beginning of the feud, so their strong chemistry has been well established. I expected an above-average main event from them and we got one, but what I did not expect was a House of Black win (clean, too). I have no issue with that as either team would've been a welcome addition to the AEW World Tag Team Championship four-way at Full Gear. Hopefully this going on last AEW is serious about rehabbing its tag team division. Overall ShowOn paper, this was a perfectly serviceable show. I appreciated all of the hype and build for Full Gear, which is shaping up to be the usual excellent pay-per-view from AEW. Unfortunately, most Dynamites these days don't feel must-see by any means and this one in particular lacked any real sense of energy or urgency. The awful atmosphere in Bridgeport had a lot to do with that, not to mention the top storylines aren't all that compelling.
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