The John Report: AEW Dynamite 01/20/21 Review
Welcome to the AEW Dynamite review here on TJRWrestling. AEW had two weeks of New Year’s Smash shows, so now they are back with a regular edition of Dynamite. I’m going to do the format where I summarize the matches and promos while only doing play by play for the main event.
This is episode #67 of AEW Dynamite from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, FL. Follow me on Twitter @johnreport. Here’s my AEW Dynamite TV review archive. Let’s get to it.
JR started with “It’s Wednesday night and you know what that means” just like every week now. Good stuff. The wrestlers were surrounding the ring as usual at Daily’s Place. It’s Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone and Excalibur on commentary as usual.
The first match is done to celebrate Negative 1’s birthday. That is Brodie Lee Jr., who I believe is eight years old and son of Brodie Lee. The Dark Order guys brought out Brodie Jr. on the shoulders of Ten of the Dark Order. John Silver said that The Dark Order is going to get a new recruit, Adam Page. Silver did his “Johnny Hungee” bit to cheers. Everybody in attendance sang “Happy Birthday” to Brodie as we got a shot of Brodie Jr.’s mom and brother in the crowd. Brodie was wearing the Brodie Lee ring jacket.
Luther and Serpentico showed up with Luther ripped on AEW becoming a daycare center. Luther mentioned Brodie Jr. telling Luther he looked stupid (they showed a clip earlier in the show). Luther said his face is perfectly symmetrical while calling them stupid looking. Luther said that they don’t like Negative 1 and they are going to ruin the birthday, so that led to a brawl and “Hangman” Page jumped onto a pile of wrestlers leading to a tag team match.
“Hangman” Adam Page, John Silver, Alex Reynolds and Colt Cabana vs. Angelico, Jack Evans, Luther and Serpentico
I guess the Dark Order team are faces now, so the heels isolated Silver early in the match. Luther did a body slam to partner Serpentico on Silver and Luther slammed the two other partners onto Silver. Silver broke free by sending Serpentico into the turnbuckle and a boot to the face. Page tagged in with a bunch of clotheslines on the heels and an overhead suplex got a two count. That led to all eight guys getting involved with Cabana hit a flying apple attack off the ropes and Page hit a fallaway slam. Silver hit a couple of cool moves on the floor. Page hit a moonsault off the top onto a pile of opponents on the floor. Serpentico and Evans hit a DDT/450 splash combo for two with Page making the save for Cabana. Page sent Evans over the barricade into the crowd. Negative 1 hit Luther with a kendo stick and Cabana sent Luther in the cake on the stage. The faces won with a Buckshot Lariat by Page into a German Suplex by Silver, right into a pin by Reynolds to win the match after about six minutes.
Winners by pinfall: “Hangman” Adam Page, John Silver, Alex Reynolds and Colt Cabana
Analysis: **1/2 This was okay for a shorter match full of action. It was chaotic at times because that’s what AEW is all about, but I think it was a cool match to do for young Brodie Jr. with his guys getting the win. Page continues to shine while Silver impresses me as well too.
After the match, Negative 1 hit Serpentico with a kendo stick to the head. Negative 1 said: “My birthday was three days ago, you idiots!” That was funny. Negative 1 threw the papers at Serpentico just like Brodie used to do.
Analysis: Funny line by the kid. Great job by him.
Post match, John Silver told Page that he’s so good, he’s really handsome and has really nice hair, so Silver likes him a lot. Silver got down on one knee towards Page: “Will you join the Dark Order?” The fans wanted Page to do it, but Page said “I can’t” while there was music as well as graphics that said “He Said Yes” on it. Page said he had so much fun with them, but honestly, he’s done the group thing before and it didn’t end well for him. Page said he’s sorry and he left. Page grabbed a whiskey bottle and left.
Analysis: This story continues. I think they might keep pushing the angle with Page eventually joining the group and fully making them a babyface unit. Then again, Page might be better off as a loner. There are a lot of ways it can go here.
The announcers ran down the lineup for the show including Sting up next.
Chris Jericho and MJF were interviewed backstage by Alex Marvez who noted that the Inner Circle tag team challenge is later in the show. MJF didn’t want Inner Circle to have dissension. Jericho said that this will make the group stay together and make them stronger than ever. MJF said that they will be the next AEW World Tag Team Champions. That’s the main event later in the show.
(Commercial)
Let’s Hear from Sting and Darby Allin
Tony Schiavone was in the ring to conduct an interview with Sting, who made his entrance to a big pop. The snow part of the entrance remains weird for a man from California when the show is in Florida, but I guess it looks cool. Sting entered with the black/white face paint along with the black coat and Sting and a Brodie Lee t-shirt. Darby Allin was next as the TNT Champion that also got a nice ovation as one of the most popular guys in AEW. JR talked about how Darby has a bright future since he’s in his mid-20s just as long as he doesn’t break his body. It’s a good point.
Sting told Allin there’s something that reminds Sting of himself when he sees Darby. Sting called Darby a great wrestler and congratulated Allin for being the TNT Champion. Sting said he didn’t want to interrupt the match last week. Taz interrupted with a promo with Team Taz appearing on the video screen.
Taz complained about Sting attacking Ricky Starks and Allin wrapped his belt around Cage’s legs. Taz said he grew up in the streets. Taz said that these men are street fighters. Ricky Starks claimed they couldn’t see them in the streets. Taz said if you want to go hard and go nasty, the ball is in your court and asked “what you got?” Allin did a promo saying that if you want to take it to the streets, be careful what you wish for because it just might happen.
Analysis: It was not a long promo, but it furthered the storyline going on here. Sting said what he needed to say about his connection to Allin since Darby reminds Sting of himself. Taz did a great heel promo too and then Allin seemed to accept the challenge. On Thursday afternoon, AEW announced that the match was announced for AEW Revolution with Sting and Allin teaming together against Brian Cage and Ricky Starks in a Street Fight. Best of luck to Sting stay healthy because at 61 years old with a serious injury over five years ago, he has to be smart out there.
(Commercial)
The AEW Beach Break show is in two weeks with Thunder Rosa facing Dr. Britt Baker in a match.
The Young Bucks arrived at Kenny Omega’s house with Alex Marvez there. It’s a very big house. There was Michael Nakazawa, who told the Young Bucks that they were expecting them and Nakazawa led them to a room. There was a painting that had Kenny Omega and Don Callis with their shirts off and some fake muscles drawn on Don. Callis showed up saying he had the painting commissioned for Kenny’s birthday. Matt and Nick Jackson told Don they think he’s so clever. Don apologized for changing the match last week and claimed Kenny is too busy to meet them at his own house. Don claimed that Kenny changed his number, so that’s why Young Bucks haven’t been able to get a hold of him. Don said that they are the three people that love Kenny the most and Don told Nakazawa to take Marvez and camera guy to the dungeon room. The camera was on the floor filming Don and The Young Bucks. Don said that they’re very busy, so Don gave them a check for Kenny’s friendship. Matt claimed they made that much money last week. Matt and Nick claimed where Don was all these years when Young Bucks were there for Kenny. Don said that they were great friends, but now they are holding him back. Don claimed that Kenny is too nice to cut the cord because he’s too nice while Don is not, so that’s why he is doing it. Matt and Nick ripped up the checks because they worked for the company that Don is a Vice President for and they know their checks aren’t good. Callis said they shouldn’t take their anger out on him and then the camera went out with Callis hoping they don’t kick his ass.
Analysis: Good line by Matt ripping on Impact for the bad checks. That’s an old wrestling joke that some fans will get while others will have no idea what they are referencing. Anyway, it shows that the Young Bucks aren’t really with Omega because of the fact that they don’t like Callis and Kenny is too rude to even meet with his friends. Callis is a great heel manager character. I think he’s a great addition to Kenny’s presentation as a heel wrestler too.
Cody Rhodes (w/Arn Anderson) vs. “Pretty” Peter Avalon
I don’t remember the last time Avalon was on Dynamite, but he’s doing a Rick Rude ripoff gimmick these days although he does not have the physique of Rude. I don’t watch Dark. Cody grabbed Avalon and hit the Cross Rhodes as Jade Cargill’s music played so that she can watch on the ramp. Excalibur claimed Cody wanted to beat Avalon in one minute, but Cody wasn’t paying attention anymore. Avalon with a low blow kick to the balls while the referee was looking at Cargill. That allowed Avalon to get some offense including a superplex off the top. Cody kicked out of a weak looking suplex and then they did a double clothesline spot. They went to picture in picture break.
(Commercial)
The match returned with Avalon missing a moonsault with Cody moving out of the way. Cody went for a leapfrog, but Avalon collided into the left knee of Cody. Avalon ran the ropes right into a Cody Cutter. That spot made Avalon look dumb, but I guess it was cool. Anyway, Cody hit a powerslam as well. Cody slapped on the Figure Four Leglock with Avalon reversing it, then Cody turned it over, Cody was about to slap him in the face, “Pretty” didn’t want to get slapped and Avalon tapped out. It went about nine minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Cody Rhodes
Analysis: *3/4 A simple, sometimes boring match to give Cody the win. They probably could have done this in three minutes and it would have been the same thing. I’m guessing Cody just wanted to give Avalon some offense in a match on Dynamite, so that’s what this was about. Creative finish since the “Pretty” guy didn’t want to get slapped.
There was a promo with FTR sitting on a couch with Tully Blanchard. Tully claimed that the ratings say they are number one. Luchasaurus, Jungle Boy and Marko Stunt showed up with Jungle Boy telling Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler that Boy can beat either of them. Harwood accepted the challenge with Luchasaurus saying he’ll make sure no one gets involved.
Analysis: I assume they are saving the FTR vs. Jungle Boy/Luchasaurus tag team match for the Beach Blast show or maybe the Revolution PPV.
Jon Moxley made his entrance for a match. His first match since December 2 when he lost the AEW World Title.
(Commercial)
Jon Moxley vs. Nick Comoroto
This Comoroto guy is big and hairy. Maybe he’s related to me. Just kidding. Moxley was aggressive early, but Comoroto caught him with a powerslam while the announcers noted that QT Marshall was his trainer. Comoroto hit a backbreaker. Moxley came back with forearms, but Comoroto hit a slam off the shoulders for a two count. Moxley avoided a corner charge and took over from there including a German Suplex. Moxley choked out Comoroto with a rear-naked choke style sleeper for the submission win after about four minutes.
Winner by submission: Jon Moxley
Analysis: **1/4 That’s how you do a squash match to give a babyface a decisive win without going too long, yet also giving a bit of offense to the guy that lost. Moxley winning was obvious here. Comoroto has the kind of look that you want to see in a wrestler, so maybe he’ll be around more in the future.
Moxley did a post match promo saying things are getting crazy around here and he can’t keep track of everything going on here. Moxley said Kenny Omega thought he’d bring his frat brothers from Nashville and they would watch his back. Moxley said Omega made it more interesting, bigger brawls, more blood, more necks to break, more limbs to snap – Moxley loves this. Moxley told Omega can bring whoever he wants, but all roads in professional wrestling goes through him.
Analysis: Moxley always delivers very real promos that are easy to get behind. Moxley challenging Omega for the AEW World Title at the Revolution PPV makes sense.
Eddie Kingston and friends was interviewed by Dasha backstage. Eddie was told that he’ll face Lance Archer next week. Archer interrupted the interview to tell Eddie that everybody dies. Kingston told him one on one next week and Roberts told him it’s one on one without The Butcher and The Blade at ringside. Eddie agreed to it.
(Commercial)
Kenny Omega was shown entering the building with Alex Marvez interviewing him with Kenny not knowing that they were at his house. Callis had sunglasses, but he had a big shiner/bruise around his right eye. Omega asked who did this with Callis revealing that Matt and Nick Jackson did it. Callis complained about Marvez being there, so that scene ended.
Matt Sydal and Top Flight (Darius and Dante Martin) vs. Matt Hardy and Private Party (Isaiah Kassidy and Marq Quen)
We were informed that Top Flight is inspired by Matt Sydal. Darius is 21 and Dante is 19. Private Party are the number one contenders for the Impact Tag Team Titles. Hardy is more of a heel now. Dante and Darius were on fire with dropkicks early on. There was a triple leapfrog leading to a spin kick by Sydal. Then they messed up a spot in a major way. Dante launched Darius over Quen instead of on Quen and then Darius did a backflip onto his head that missed Quen too. Then Darius tried to pin Quen…umm…what. Sydal was the legal man. That was really bad. Excalibur tried to explain it, but failed miserably. JR: “Does it really matter? It’s a runaway train.” Excalibur ignored JR trashing these spots and moved on plugging something else. A lot of wrestlers were in the ring too long, referee Bryce Remsburg eventually cleared the ring and a frustrated JR goes: “He finally got control of something.” Anyway, the match slowed down finally with Quen hitting a splash off the ropes. Hardy and Private Party were in control as they went to a PIP break.
(Commercial)
The match continued with Sydal as the face in peril for several minutes. Darius got the hot tag with a standing Spanish Fly and he tossed Hardy out of the ring. Darius hit an incredible suicide dive into the barricade. That sounded rough. Nice double team move by Top Flight by the ropes that was a Benjamin/Haas spot against the ropes. Hardy went in with the Side Effect on all three guys on the other team. Shocking that this referee lost control again. Quen did some dance move into a jumping kick with Sydal just standing there waiting for it. Dante hit a hurricanrana off the top on Quen for a two count. Hardy shoved Darius to the floor, the referee made Matt move back, so Kassidy hit Dante with a chair to the ribs and Quen hit a Shooting Star Press to win by pinfall after 12 minutes.
Winners by pinfall: Matt Hardy and Private Party (Isaiah Kassidy and Marq Quen)
Analysis: ***1/4 It was a solid tag team match when they weren’t blowing spots. If this was a taped show they could have edited it out (they usually tape every other week), but since it was live we had to witness the messed up spots. You can also tell that JR is frustrated by the refereeing being poor as I mention week after week. Once they slowed down, it got better. I’m glad that Private Party and Hardy continue to get a bit of a push because they were doing nothing for months, so I’m glad they get to do more. I also liked the chair shot cheating for the win. That’s storyline progression right there with Hardy teaching his guys to find a way to win.
Post match, the losers got in the face of the winners, so Private Party and Hardy beat up Darius and Sydal. Hardy hit the Twist of Fate on both guys while Dante remained down in the ring.
There was an Inner Circle meeting backstage with MJF telling the other guys he didn’t want to do this match. Sammy got in MJF’s face. MJF said he respects Sammy because he’s not afraid to speak his mind. MJF claimed he wanted what was best for this group. MJF said let’s get this match out of the way and finish this. They touched knuckles with MJF, but Sammy didn’t do that.
Penelope Ford entered for a match with Kip Sabian and Rusev had Chuck Taylor as his butler named Charles now. That led to Taylor dressed like a butler until the wedding of Sabian/Ford on February 3.
Penelope Ford (w/Kip Sabian, Miro and Charles) vs. Leyla Hirsch
There’s no story here. It was going to be Hirsch vs. Nyla Rose, but Rose is out due to Rose going into quarantine after coming into contact with somebody that had Coronavirus. There was a spot early on with Sabian getting Charles to grab Hirsch’s leg, but Hirsch still took down Ford. After Hirsch left the ring, Ford kicked her and sent her into the barricade. They went into a PIP break.
(Commercial)
The show returned with Ford hitting double knees to the ribs for a two count. Hirsch blocked a kick and hit a running knee into a German Suplex. Ford tripped up Hirsch on the turnbuckle, but Hirsch came back with a clothesline. Hirsch jumped off the top onto Sabian and Charles, but then Ford took advantage with a pump kick while Sabian grabbed Leyla’s foot and Ford got the cheap win. It went about seven minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Penelope Ford
Analysis: ** It was okay for the time given with Ford getting some help from her allies outside the ring for the cheap win. Hirsch is shorter than most women in AEW, but she has a lot of power and cool moves. The win helps Ford move up the rankings although this company is lacking in women’s storylines as usual.
Miro did a promo with Charles dressed as a butler while Orange Cassidy watched from the crowd. Miro told Charles to let go of the past. Miro wanted Charles to tell Orange Cassidy (“the George Michael wannabe”) that Miro is your best friend now. Charles reluctantly said: “Miro is my best friend now.” Cassidy walked away up the steps.
Analysis: Miro was pretty funny here. Charles was adapting to the new look and I guess we’re supposed to feel sad for Orange Cassidy.
There was a backstage scene with Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows beating up Penta. Kenny Omega joined them in attacking Penta. Omega jabbed the point of his boot into Penta’s eye. Kenny said “what a champion wants, the champion gets.” They left.
Next week on AEW Dynamite. I believe it was taped on Thursday.
* Lance Archer vs. Eddie Kingston
* Shaquille O’Neal responds to Cody Rhodes
* Dax Harwood vs. Jungle Boy
* The Young Bucks and The Good Brothers vs. Dark Order’s Evil Uno, Stu Grayson, John Silver and Alex Reynolds
In two weeks is Beach Break with the wedding of Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford. Plus, Thunder Rosa vs. Britt Baker and a tag team battle royal for a Tag Team Title match at Revolution.
The Inner Circle tag team main event is next.
(Commercial)
Coming soon is a Women’s World Championship Eliminator Tournament. The winner gets a Women’s World Title shot. No more details were provided. I hope Britt Baker wins that.
The entrances took place for the main event with Chris Jericho and MJF joined by Wardlow. There was the entrance of Sammy Guevara and Jake Hager with a special video message from Sammy Hagar saying this was his favorite team as if he watches AEW or knows what is going on. Anyway, Jericho got him to send the message. Santana and Ortiz were up last.
Inner Circle Tag Team Challenge: Chris Jericho and MJF (w/Wardlow) vs. Santana and Ortiz vs. Sammy Guevara and Jake Hager
Two guys are in the ring while the other four are on the apron. The first fall wins. Sammy and Jericho exchanged some punches leading to Sammy hitting a dropkick and a clothesline over the top to the floor. Sammy did a backflip into the ring followed by a pose that he would do when he teamed with Jericho in the past. Sammy with a catapult into a punch from Hager on the apron for a two count for Sammy. Ortiz tagged in against Hager with Santana hitting a dropkick to the back. Santana and Ortiz hit a double team back suplex while Jericho made a blind tag, so Jericho battled Ortiz until Santana tagged in with a cross body block, Santana with a senton and Santana hit a moonsault for two. That led to a PIP break.
(Commercial)
The show returned with about seven minutes left as Jericho hit a suplex on Sammy followed by a cocky pin for two. Sammy blocked a bulldog by Jericho and sent Jericho into the turnbuckle. Tony pointed out that MJF had yet to really enter the match and then Hager tagged in against MJF with a clothesline followed by a spinning slam. Sammy tagged in against his nemesis MJF with a Cutter off the top. Sammy with a clothesline on Jericho over the top to the floor followed by a superkick. Tony announced that at Beach Break it’s Jon Moxley, Pac and Rey Fenix against Omega, Gallows and Anderson. Meanwhile, Ortiz and Santana hit suicide dives on the wrestlers on the floor. Sammy with a twisting dive over the top onto MJF on the floor. Sammy with a belly to belly slam on Ortiz and Santana kicked Sammy to stop his momentum. MJF put Sammy on the shoulders, then Sammy hit a reverse Rana on MJF and Sammy hit a Spanish Fly on Ortiz off the top for a two count. Jericho got his baseball bat Floyd, but Hager dropped Chris with a boot to the face. Wardlow handed MJF the diamond ring, so Hager punched MJF when he saw the ring. Hager with a double clothesline on Santana/Ortiz. Sammy hit a running SSP that barely touched Ortiz. Jericho tagged himself in as MJF hit Sammy with a Powerbomb. Jericho into the ropes for the Lionsault…but he did one of the worst Lionsaults of his career. At least he landed close enough to Sammy to cover. Double team flapjack by Jericho/MJF, then Ortiz tagged in and dropkick put down Jericho and MJF. Santana joined Ortiz in the ring with a double team slam for a two count on Jericho. Ortiz argued with the referee and Jericho came back with a Codebreaker for a two count because that is not Jericho’s finisher anymore. MJF tagged in with Ortiz hitting a double DDT on MJF and Jericho at the same time. Hager with a splash out of the corner. Sammy tagged in and hit a Senton Bomb off the top for a two count as Ortiz broke up the pin. Hager sent Ortiz out of the ring, Jericho sent Hager out of the ring. Sammy hit the GTH (Go to Hell) slam into the knee on Jericho. MJF was the legal man, Wardlow got up, Sammy used MJF to knock him down and MJF did the ROLLUP OF DEATH~! with tights on Sammy for the pinfall win after 13 minutes.
Winners by pinfall: Chris Jericho and MJF
The win means that Jericho and MJF will be Inner Circle’s main tag team going after the AEW Tag Team Titles. They’ll probably win that tag team battle royal that was announced earlier.
Analysis: ***1/2 I thought it was a very good tag team match. It’s not easy with six guys in there, a lot of random tags and double teams, but they made it work. I thought Sammy Guevara really shined in this match. Whether he’s a heel long term or if he goes face, I think Sammy is going to be a big star in AEW. I’m a big Chris Jericho fan, but at 50 years old maybe it’s time to retire the Lionsault from the arsenal of moves or at least avoid doing it in every match. The older you get and the more you weigh, the harder it’s going to be to do it in every match. Hager was booked well as the power guy in the match. I thought Ortiz/Santana were awesome as a true tag team that doesn’t get pushed enough and now they are on the outside again since MJF and Jericho will be Inner Circle’s main tag team. A cheap win by MJF on Sammy makes Sammy angry towards MJF while MJF continues being a smarmy heel that is easy to hate.
The show was right at the 10pmET hour, so they signed off right away without anything after the match.
Three Stars of the Show
- Sammy Guevara
- Chris Jericho/MJF
- Matt Hardy/Private Party
The Scoreboard
This Week: 6.75 out of 10
Last Week: 7
2021 Average: 7.08
Final Thoughts
This was a solid episode of Dynamite although not at the level of their best shows. The in-ring action wasn’t as good as what AEW usually delivers on a weekly basis. The Inner Circle tag was the best of the night, though, so that’s good when the main event is the best match. I just think Chris Jericho might want to stop doing the Lionsault. There was also an earlier tag team match with some major botching going on. Sometimes wrestlers have to slow down in the ring. It’s not always about doing the flippy stuff. Anyway, they did progress some storylines and I thought most of the promos/backstage segments were useful. Happy Birthday to Negative One as well.
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John Canton
Email: mrjohncanton@gmail.com
Twitter: @johnreport