8/13/21

Welcome to the 8/13/21 addition of the Weekly Salt from Salty William. This week and talk about Dynamite and Rampage, including the experience I had at the shows in Pittsburgh.

Salty William has a trip to an indoor water park with his extended family. To make it interesting I challenged my brothers to a best shape competition. The middle brother of the family was always in the best shape and still is. When we had a pre vote all ten family members thought he was going to win. This includes my wife and children but they know that Salty William is giving it his all. I will tell you how it turns out.

This week Bobby Eaton passed away. In his memory the suggested match of the week is the Midnight Express vs Flair and Windham the Horseman. This is at Clash of the Champions IV and is a great match for the twenty minutes. The chemistry of the Midnight Express is shown here to full effect. Even though Stan Lane and Bobby Eaton were the faces here they still had the same things that made them great. The educated feet of Lane and the selling of Eaton with Cornette was in full effect. I highly recommend this one if you would like to see old school tag team wrestling.

This week I am only going to be focusing on Dynamite and Rampage from Pittsburgh Pa. One thing I will say about the YouTube Dark shows is that they are really working on storyline more they have ever had before.

I have to be honest, I was afraid when I heard AEW was going to be in my home town of Pittsburgh for two nights. This was because the last time I saw AEW shows in Pittsburgh and in Cleveland the venues were obviously not full. I am happy to say that AEW and their fans proved me wrong. The crowd definitely looked full and the atmosphere was electric. I noticed this right away on Wednesday but Friday was even more electric. Britt Baker came out to meet all of us at the gates on Wednesday and the crowd was on fire with DMD chants even before anyone got in the venue. I will be focusing on the main shows but the Darks were very good wrestling as well. At the merch table I got a signed Kenny Omega figure and was very pleased with the purchase.

The crowd in the beginning of Dynamite was on fire. The first match that included the Young Bucks and Kenny Omega really saw Daunte Martin shine as an upcoming star. The aftermath of the match was cringe worthy to be at because the All Out AEW championship match was officially announced. Christian was not the wrestler the crowd wanted and the crowd loudly expressed that.

In a very pleasant surprise upset, Kris Statlander beat Nyla Rose. The home town came alive for Britt Baker’s segment were she wore a very Pittsburgh jacket that honored the sports teams. She was supported with loud DMD chants and terrible towel waving fans, as only Pittsburgh could do. The main event was very underwhelming as Wardlow just powerbombed Jericho for most of the match. The crowd really showed its disgust during a match that should have been more exciting. Overall, Dynamite was a great experience and left us wanting more.

Friday’s crowd for the first Rampage was even hotter than Wednesday, and the crowd was more full. AEW chants started loud and early. In a match that nobody seemed like they wanted, Christian and Omega blew the roof off of the place. I must say this felt like one of the most important matches I ever seen live, and remember I saw Hogan vs the Warrior. The match was so well executed that Christian Cage won the crowd over. Then what we thought would not happen was the belt collector Omega lost two of his belts. It was a very exciting moment and the Pittsburgh crowd came alive in their support to Christian.

The TNT Championship match had a predictable result but the story was amazing. Fuego had the match of his life and the crowd was chanting Fuego as he went against Miro. Finally the power disadvantage caught up with Fuego and Miro ended him. The match was so much better than I expected and the contract given to Fuego in defeat was a real emotional moment.

Britt Baker’s hometown advantage as a heel was as big as CM Punk’s in Chicago. It was an amazing experience to be at. It was so different than last time when the hometown crowd was cheering more for Pittsburgh than for her, and even those cheers were low in 2019. This time around it felt like a Steelers playoff game, the chants were extremely loud and terrible towels were flying. Even when Britt was being her heelish self the crowd was in full approval. The win for Baker was so awesome as her parents were in the crowd cheering her on.

Wrestlers of the week:
5. Kris Statlander
4. Daunte Martin
3. Kenny Omega
2. Britt Baker
And #1 The new Impact World Champion Christian Cage

AEW just got the wrestling world way more into a PPV championship match they did not want. Chicago will try to be more loud and crazy for next week’s Rampage than Pittsburgh. Even though they will be louder in Chicago, the excitement in Pittsburgh this week was amazing!

Till next time, Salty William