TJR: AEW Dynamite 08/27/20 Review
This week’s episode of AEW Dynamite was a special Thursday night episode of the show. They changed this week because of NBA Playoff games that were supposed to happen on Wednesday, then those games didn’t happen due to protest and AEW still went on Thursday because it was a live show. There were also some paid fans in attendance although they weren’t that close to the wrestlers or the ring. AEW will return to the usual Wednesday night show next week and then there’s the AEW All Out pay-per-view on Saturday, September 5th.
This is episode #48 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.
The AEW intro video aired followed by some pyro going off at Daily’s Place for this live show. There were some fans in the crowd shown because they had about 10% capacity there. There were also some wrestlers and AEW employees surrounding the ring. The announcers were Jim Ross and Tony Schiavone, who were joined by “Le Champion” Chris Jericho. It’s nice to hear some fans singing Jericho’s song.
Tag Team Gauntlet Match Part 1: #4 Natural Nightmares (Dustin Rhodes and QT Marshall) vs. #3 Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson)
The winners of this four team gauntlet gets a Tag Team Title shot at All Out.
Marshall started with Matt with each guy going for pins with the announcers talking about how there was a lot of energy there thanks to the crowd in attendance. Rhodes tagged in with arm drags on Matt, then Matt with two arm drags of his own. Dustin joked that he was too tired after that. Matt got a rollup for two, but then Dustin hit powerslams on each Jackson. Marshall and Rhodes hit a double team Russian legsweep takedown. Jericho said that Cody deserves the attack that happened against him last week. Nick tagged in with a dropkick, then the Bucks with a double dropkick on Marshall to knock him out of the ring. The Bucks did a double team bulldog into a dropkick on Dustin for a two count. Rhodes with a punch to Nick, Matt tagged in and Dustin hit a Canadian Destroyer with Jericho saying it’s a Texas Destroyer for him. Marshall got the tag with a backbreaker into a facebuster on Nick for a two count. The Bucks avoided a cartwheel move attempt from Marshall, then hit double superkicks on Marshall and Rhodes. Marshall got a rollup on Matt for a two count, then a lifting forearm smash to the face and Nick hit a kick to Marshall’s face. Young Bucks hid a double knee smash to the face of Marshall for the pinfall win after about six minutes.
Winners by pinfall: Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson)
Analysis: **1/2 It was okay with the Bucks working well together to get the win. I’ll have a final rating for the entire gauntlet match in total as well. This went as I expected with the Young Bucks winning since Natural Nightmares don’t ever get pushed that much on Dynamite.
Best Friends were next as the #2 tag team. Jericho: “I hate these guys.” Jericho is great. JR noted that Best Friends were 14-4 in 2020.
Tag Team Gauntlet Match Part 2: #3 Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) vs. #2 Best Friends (Trent and Chuck Taylor)
Best Friends hit a double shoulder tackle to start the match. Jericho complained about the name Best Friends and said that they would stab eachother in the back for a paycheck. Nick with a kick to Trent on the apron and a leap over the top onto Taylor with a facebuster. Trent came back with a Spear on Nick on the floor. Back in the ring, Trent with a running kick on Nick for a two count. Trent with a running knee on Nick for a two kick with Jericho complaining about the plugs for Being The Elite show. Taylor with a double arm suplex. Nick countered a suplex with a knee to the head, then Nick tripped up Taylor on the apron and Nick avoided a piledriver to hit Trent with a superkick. Nick hit a delayed German Suplex on the apron on Trent with Jericho mentioning it was the hardest part of the ring. Matt got the tag with punches, then a DDT on Taylor, Trent avoided a piledriver and hit a chop. Matt jumped off the turnbuckle with a Stunner-like move for a two count. Matt hit the rolling Northern Lights suplexes three times on Trent, who no sold that to hit a DDT off the ropes. Nick tagged back in with moves like a rising knee, but then Chuck hit a spinebuster. Trent was back in as Trent hit a forearm, a boot to the face and Trent with a suplex across the ring. Best Friends did their hug spot. Nick countered a move for a nearfall while Matt tripped up Chuck on the apron. Trent with a hard chop on Nick, who came back with a kick to the head and Matt held Trent on the apron while Nick hit a somersault splash on Trent on the floor. Matt held Trent by the ropes as Nick went up top and hit a springboard 450 Splash for a two count. Remember when a 450 Splash would win matches? Not in AEW. Matt picked up Trent, Nick was going for a double team move, but “Hangman” Adam Page showed up at ringside to grab Nick’s foot. That prevented the double team finisher, so Trent was able to counter Matt with a forward rollup for a two count. A guy can take a 450 Splash, then come back with a rollup moments later and win with it. Sure. Anyway, this went about 10 minutes.
Winners by pinfall: Best Friends (Trent and Chuck Taylor)
Analysis: *** This was good with Nick as the face in peril for most of it and then the surprising ending with Page costing his Young Bucks buddies the win. It might be a story where you can say Page didn’t want the Young Bucks to win since they almost beat Page/Omega at Revolution earlier this year. I’m not sure what the explanation will be for the story, but it would make sense if they explained it that way. Page is also allies with FTR a bit, so that’s part of it too.
The Young Bucks were staring at Page wondering what he was doing. Jericho said that it wasn’t a mistake – he caused his so-called friends to lose. Page couldn’t look Young Bucks in the eyes as Page walked away while Young Bucks wondered what was going on.
The undefeated team of FTR entered with manager Tully Blanchard for the last part of the Gauntlet Match.
(Commercial)
Tag Team Gauntlet Match Part 3: #2 Best Friends (Trent and Chuck Taylor) vs. FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler) w/Tully Blanchard
The match started during the picture in picture break with FTR fully in control. FTR was working on the injured left knee of Taylor. There was a rollup on Taylor for a two count. Jericho complained about the referee. Wheeler pulled Trent off the apron and hit a suplex on the floor. Harwood with a chop block to the back of the left knee of Taylor. Harwood stretched the left leg of Taylor while Wheeler and Blanchard talked trash. Taylor tapped out to lose this after about four minutes.
Winners by submission: FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler)
Analysis: ** A quick fall to put over FTR in dominant fashion. They worked over the left knee of Taylor and it was Harwood/Wheeler at their best. I’d rate the whole gauntlet match at **3/4 or so. I thought it would be a better gauntlet match.
The win for FTR means that they will challenge Kenny Omega and “Hangman” Adam Page for the AEW Tag Team Titles at All Out on September 5.
Analysis: FTR was the right team to get the win here. I am going with the undefeated FTR team winning the titles there. I’m also ready for Omega and Page to be singles wrestlers. This company has more than enough tag teams without Omega and Page as a regular team.
(Commercial)
There was some video with Darby Allin jumping off a bridge. Allin is part of the Casino Battle Royal at All Out with the winner getting an AEW World Title shot. Lance Archer is in that match too.
Lance Archer entered with Jake Roberts and he hit some random guy with a forearm to the face.
Lance Archer (w/Jake Roberts) vs. Sean Maluta
Archer with a running shoulder tackle followed by a hard chop to the chest. Maluta tried some chops, Archer no sold it, hit a hard chop of his own and a suplex across the ring. Archer with three running back elbows to the chest. Archer with a huge Chokeslam for a two count as he pulled Maluta’s head up with Jake laughing about it. Archer picked up Maluta over his head and hit the sitout Blackout slam. Archer rammed Maluta’s head into the mat three times for the pinfall win after three minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Lance Archer
Analysis: * A dominant win by Archer as it should be. Sometimes AEW books these matches where they go six minutes instead of three minutes. This was just under three minutes, so that’s the right amount of time for a match like this.
Archer celebrated the win with Archer, who has a 13-1 record in AEW and he’s the #2 ranked wrestler. If he’s #2 ranked then he should be in a meaningful All Out PPV match instead of just being on the pre-show battle royal. Just saying.
(Commercial)
Lance Archer was still in the ring with manager Jake Roberts. Jake talked about how there will be 21 men in the Casino Battle Royal and he said that Archer is going to walk out the winner. Roberts said that they will leave their mark. Archer said that as fast as they step into the ring, they will go out because everybody dies. Roberts said he loved seeing this man abuse people and here comes Brian Cage, Ricky Starks and Tazz to interrupt.
Tazz said that he has never crossed paths with Jake, who told Jake that a member of Team Taz will win at All Out. Jake told them that they should wear chicken suits because they will be plucked. Tazz said he was trying to keep this calm as Cage and Starks got in the ring with Archer/Roberts.
Darby Allin joined the party by skating down to the ring on a skateboard. Allin with a dropkick on Starks and then a Stunner over the ropes to the ramp. Allin tackled Starks and they went brawling to the back. Roberts kept Archer back by telling him not now. The fans chanted “let them fight” as Archer faced off with Cage.
Analysis: Archer and Cage have both been booked as monster heels at different times, but neither is featured consistently. Perhaps they will have some positive momentum after the battle royal takes place. I have liked the Allin story with Starks and thought they’d have an All Out match, but instead they’re in the battle royal.
MJF was shown backstage with his staff with a ridiculous neckbrace on along with a walker (covered by a scarf) to sell the Paradigm Shift that he took from Jon Moxley. That contract signing is next.
A video aired about Shida defended the AEW Women’s Title against NWA Women’s Champion Thunder Rosa. They had a comment from NWA President Billy Corgan talked about how Thunder loves a good fight and is a born champion. Corgan supported the idea of the two champions facing off. There was a video of the two women signing the contract for All Out on September 5.
Analysis: It should be a great match. I think it was a smart move to get Thunder Rosa because the AEW women’s division isn’t very strong right now.
(Commercial)
AEW Championship Contract Signing Between Jon Moxley and MJF
Maxwell Jacob Friedman made his entrance with Wardlow and his entourage. As I said, MJF had a big neckbrace on along with a walker that had a scarf on it. Jon Moxley entered through the back of the arena and he had the contract in his hands. The fans were cheering loudly for Moxley with Jericho saying the chicks love him, the guys love him, but he hates him! That was funny. The announcers mentioned that Jon Moxley was #1 in the PWI 500. It’s not a big deal, but some people think it is. Anyway, Moxley is 15-0 in 2020.
The “lawyer” of MJF spoke about how they were going to sign a contract that bans the Paradigm Shift at All Out. MJF signed it quickly while Moxley contemplated it.
MJF said that ten times out of ten, this ends in physicality. MJF said that as much as he wants to attack Moxley, who attacked him like a coward and there were loud “Moxley” chants from the crowd. MJF said he’s not an animal because he can separate business from emotion, so he wanted Moxley to practice social distancing…kinda like Jon’s hairline. Funny line.
Moxley told him: “Don’t worry dude, you’ll get there one day…you just gotta hit puberty first.” That was really good too!
MJF laughed about how funny that was and said that Mox is about as sharp as a marble. MJF said that everybody wants to see this match. MJF admitted that he never got the hype for Moxley, who acts like he’s crazy. MJF said that he’s wrong about Moxley while noting that he’s real good and that’s why the people love him. MJF claimed that Mike Tyson was watching Moxley and in front of everybody he stated he didn’t want to be in a dark alley with Moxley. MJF said that was a powerful statement. MJF said that on September 5, they’re not going to be in a dark alley because they’ll be in a professional wrestling ring and that’s where Jon is in danger. MJF said he’s a pro wrestling prodigy, so he told the fans to shut up. MJF said he’ll take him apart, he’ll pinpoint the weaknesses and use every part of the ring to his advantage with the same steady hands and consistency of a brain surgeon. MJF said that Moxley will panic because he’s not a wrestler, he’s a glorified goon. MJF said that Moxley will try to get him outside the ring into his territory because that’s what Moxley knew. MJF said that Moxley grew up idolizing guys like Sandman, New Jack, John Zandig and Onita with MJF calling them hot garbage. MJF said that he grew up idolizing wrestlers like Buddy Rogers, Ernie Ladd and Tully Blanchard’s of the world. MJF said he’ll keep Moxley in the ring like a dog on a leash and beat him like the dog he is. MJF said he’s going to be wearing Pretty Platinum and he’ll become your AEW World Champion. MJF said that we deserve better.
MJF said that he doesn’t understand how Moxley thinks he needs one move. Moxley wondered if Moxley was man enough to win without the Paradigm Shift. Moxley had a remark saying if that’s the case then maybe he should tell his hot wife (hello Renee) that MJF is single. That pissed off Moxley, so he stood up.
Moxley told the “dickwad” lawyer to sitdown and called Wardlow “Flex Magazine” which made me laugh. Moxley wondered if he should sign this contract. Moxley said that he wanted to dump MJF on the top of his head many times, he wants him to have permanent neck damage and said he didn’t like MJF. Moxley told MJF he was forcing him to get creative and think of all the ways he can hurt MJF. Moxley said he didn’t want to get sued and noted that he was going to sign the contract. Moxley told MJF that nothing MJF says matters. Moxley said that nothing he signs matters. Moxley said that on September 5th, MJF is a dead man. Moxley signed the contract. MJF: “Oh! You idiot!”
The lawyer told Moxley this was the stupidest thing he ever did and said it was good business. Moxley said that they didn’t have to break the table. Moxley noted that he added something on page 17 with MJF saying there were only 16 pages, then called the lawyer “Mark” (what a creative name on a wrestling show) and they freaked out. Moxley told them not to sign something before it. Moxley said that next week he’ll have a tune up match against Mark the lawyer and if Mark doesn’t show up then MJF doesn’t get the title shot. Moxley said that the Paradigm Shift will be completely legal, so Moxley suggested he wears a helmet. Moxley left looking proud.
Analysis: This was a lot of fun. There were a lot of great lines by MJF in there, Moxley didn’t talk as much, but he ended up looking smart by the end since he gets to beat up the lawyer next week. MJF is so skilled in terms of promos especially for a guy as young as him at 24 years old. There hasn’t been that much physicality here, which is a good thing because they are building up the anticipation for the match at All Out. I think Moxley is going to retain the title, but I wouldn’t hate it if MJF were to win.
(Commercial)
The team of Santana and Ortiz did a promo about their rivalry with Best Friends duo of Trent and Chuck Taylor. Santana and Ortiz did a phony apology while saying it was time to pay their dues.
The foursome of The Butcher, The Blade, Pentagon and Fenix entered with Eddie Kingston in their corner. There was a pre-match backstage promo from Kingston talking about supporting his friends.
The Butcher, The Blade, Pentagon and Rey Fenix (w/Eddie Kingston) vs. Joey Janela, Griff Garrison, Sonny Kiss and Brian Pillman Jr.
This was Pillman’s first match on Dynamite, so that’s cool for him. Garrison with a splash on Blade and a leaping clothesline. Butcher went in illegally to knock down Garrison and all eight guys got into a brawl. Fenix with a somersault dive onto a few guys on the floor. Pentagon and Fenix with hard chops to the chest of Garrison. Butcher and Blade with a dropkick followed by a suplex. Jericho was hilarious talking about everybody in this match. Garrison with a boot to the face. Kiss with a hurricanrana on Blade, then a cartwheel into a slap to the face. Blade went for a slam, Kiss with a punch to the face and Janela with a double hiptoss. Janela and Kiss with a double team boot to the face/legsweep combo. There were quick tags from the heel side as Butcher, Fenix and Pentagon each got in some corner attacks on Janela.
(Commercial)
Fenix ran the ropes, but Janela decked him with a forearm to the head. Butcher sent Janela to the ramp outside the ring, Janela with a choke on the ropes and Kiss got the tag. Kiss with a jumping kick, then a forearm and hurricanrana off the middle ropes. Kiss with a jumping splash on the back. Fenix avoided a leg drop and then a kick to the head. Fenix walked the ropes, Kiss tripped him up and Janela hit a death valley driver on the apron. Pentagon kicked Janela and hit a piledriver on the apron. Pillman finally got the tag with a forearm, then a superkick and Pillman worked over Butcher with a forearm, but then Butcher with a clothesline. Butcher and Blade hit a double team slam. Fenix ran the ropes leading to dropkick to the back and Pentagon hit a DDT out of it leading to the pinfall win after about ten minutes.
Winners by pinfall: The Butcher, The Blade, Pentagon and Rey Fenix
Analysis: *** It was a pretty good tag team match with the team of guys that are featured on TV regularly beating the guys that are barely on TV. Pillman was only used in the last few minutes to get beat up and lose for his team. Nice double team moves by Pentagon and Fenix as usual. I wish Pentagon and Fenix were doing more in AEW.
After the match, Kingston made the referee raise the hands of the winners. Kingston told the fans to shut up when they were chanting his name. Kingston said that all five of them will be in the Casino Battle Royal and one of them is going to win it.
Analysis: I don’t think any of them will win the Casino Battle Royal, but good luck with that.
A video package aired of the main event of last week’s Dynamite when Brodie Lee destroyed Cody to win the TNT Title in about five minutes. Cody got beat up after the match too.
The announcers talked about how there were no health updates on Cody and there’s a lot of secrecy about it. Jericho advised Cody to quit the business.
Analysis: There’s a report that Cody is taking some time off possibly for some acting role for him.
Brodie Lee’s TNT Championship Celebration
Dark Order made their entrance as they walked out with a casket. Evil Uno said that they have been on cloud nine since last Saturday’s AEW Dynamite. Uno said they didn’t just purchase one lawn mower, but six lawn mowers. Uno claimed that it’s a celebration for championship gold as much as a celebration as this…the casket. They opened the casket to reveal somebody laying in it and it was Ten, who had a signature Cody tattoo on the neck and a Nightmare Family jacket. Uno said that they have buried the Prince to make way for a new king. Uno introduced the new TNT Champion, Mr. Brodie Lee.
Mr. Brodie Lee entered as the new TNT Champion with Anna Jay by his side. The Dark Order guys all celebrated the new champion with high fives and hugs. Lee went over to Tony Schiavone and told him to go to the ring for an interview.
Tony said he couldn’t see anybody taking the title from Brodie. Lee said that every one of these men was laughed at and ridiculed by people like you while he was in prison (home from WWE) while being ridiculed by people like you. Brodie said he gave Cody back his belt – the broken TNT Title. Brodie said they buried the Nightmare Family, the open challenge is over, the independent wrestlers will not get to challenge him and Cody will never, ever, ever get this title back. The Dark Order guys chanted “you deserve it” and he told them to shut up. Brodie introduced us to Anna Jay aka 99 aka the Queen Slayer. John Silver told Brodie he was the man, so Brodie punched him and told Alex to “pick that little shit up.” Brodie told Tony to leave.
Brodie said there’s not a soul that can touch him, he’s the hottest act in professional and he kept on going, but there’s Dustin Rhodes and QT Marshall trying to fight the Dark Order, but they had no success. Scorpio Sky ran out there, he was punching the Dark Order guys and clotheslined Evil Uno out of the ring. Sky wanted to face Lee, so Anna Jay slapped Sky and Lee clotheslined Sky to knock him down. Brodie yelled at Evil Uno, then Brodie walked to the back with a few people. Matt Cardona ran out there with a leaping leg lariat on Evil Uno, a back body drop on Stu Grayson and they cleared the ring of the other Dark Order guys. Brodie Lee walked back onto the stage to face off against the guys in the ring.
Analysis: It was a pretty good promo from Brodie Lee as he continues to develop a big ego as the leader of the Dark Order and the TNT Champion. It would seem like they are going to build up Matt Cardona as a title contender against Brodie Lee, but as far as we know Cardona doesn’t have a long term contract in AEW yet and is only there on a per appearance deal. I expect Cardona to stay long term because where else is he going to go? He’s one of Cody’s best friends, so it’s a nice place to be.
(Commercial)
There was a backstage scene with Dasha interviewing “Hangman” Adam Page about his actions earlier. The Young Bucks went up to Page saying they cost him a title match and wondered if he was afraid to face them again. Nick Jackson told him that a long time ago they were a jobber and then said that Page is a jobber. Matt Jackson told Page he’s nothing but a drunk and threw a drink in his face. Matt said that Page has been acting this way since November and this is what he wanted. Matt told Hangman they’re done and he’s out of The Elite. Page was left alone looking into a broken mirror.
Analysis: There are rumors of Page joining FTR in a group along with another wrestler, perhaps Shawn Spears, for a Horsemen like group, so maybe that’s where things are headed. I think Page is better as a face rather than a heel because the crowd loved the guy. I’m certainly intrigued to see where things are going. The worst part of this was throwing out the “jobber” term in a promo. It’s an inside thing and I don’t think it’s really needed. Call him a loser or something else.
Britt Baker was sitting in a wheelchair with a leg brace and a wheelchair along with a face guard. It was ridiculous heel work. Baker told Swole that if she wins then she can face Baker in a singles match.
Big Swole vs. Penelope Ford, Rebel and Britt Baker (w/Kip Sabian)
Ford with a takedown of Swole, who came back with a headbutt. Ford choked Swole on the middle ropes leading to Baker getting in some cheap crutch shots. Ford with an elbow to the face, Rebel with a corner splash and Rebel slowly went up top, so Swole knocked her down with a punch. Swole had Rebel off the top with a poor looking hurricanrana where Rebel took a bump that was silly. Swole tripped up Sabian on the floor and hit him with a forearm. Ford with a kick to the face of Swole. Rebel hit a moonsault off the middle ropes for a two count. Rebel grabbed a crutch the referee took it away, Rebel got another crutch, Swole ducked it, so it hit Ford by accident. Rebel bumped to the floor after swinging a crutch for some reason. That was so bad. It went three minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Big Swole
Analysis: -* This was very bad while the women’s division continues to be treated like an afterthought. Some of the bumps in this match looked terrible. It also didn’t make Sabian look good at all considering he has had nothing to do for months. Swole winning was the obvious thing here.
The win means that Britt Baker will have to face Big Swole at All Out on September 5.
The announcers did a rundown of next week’s Dynamite on Wednesday, August 2.
* Santana and Ortiz vs. Best Friends
* Chris Jericho vs. Joey Janela
* Private Party and SCU vs. Young Bucks and Jurassic Express. The winners of the match will face eachother at All Out.
Analysis: I’ll go with Jericho winning over Janela, I would pencil in a win for Young Bucks and Jurassic Express and the other tag team match I’ll go with Santana/Ortiz picking up a big win.
There were members of the Dark Order that surrounded the ring. Evil Uno had a red folder with Anna Jay and Stu Grayson. They offered the red folder to Taynara Conti at ringside and she hugged Anna to join the Dark Order.
Analysis: Taynara used to be in NXT, they let her go and now she’s in AEW. She’s only 25 years old and she’s a Brazilian with a bright future. Apparently she’s already married, so sorry fellas.
The announcers ran down the All Out lineup on Saturday, September 5 on pay-per-view.
AEW World Championship: Jon Moxley (c) vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman (Moxley can’t use the Paradigm Shift)
AEW Tag Team Championships: Kenny Omega and “Hangman” Adam Page vs. FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler)
Matt Cardona, Scorpio Sky, Dustin Rhodes and QT Marshall vs. Dark Order (Brodie Lee, Colt Cabana, Evil Uno and Stu Grayson)
AEW Women’s Championship: Hikaru Shida (c) vs. Thunder Rosa
Mimosa Mayhem Match: Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy
There were more matches, but that’s what they mentioned. They replayed Jericho and friends humiliating Orange Cassidy last week.
Sammy Guevara made his entrance while doing his sign gimmick during the picture in picture break.
(Commercial)
Matt Hardy made his entrance in his regular gear, so it’s not like this is “Broken” Matt here. There were less than ten minutes left in the show. Matt is 5-1 in AEW and has a very generic theme song.
Tables Match: Matt Hardy vs. Sammy Guevara
Matt worked over Sammy with kicks to the ribs. Sammy avoided a charge and hit a jumping kick to the head. Matt countered a DDT by shoving Sammy over the top to the floor. There were tables surrounding the ring. Hardy shoved Sammy over the barricade as they went into the crowd. They did a picture in picture break again.
(Commercial)
During the break, Sammy got busted open at some point. They battled on the apron with Matt hitting a sitout slam onto the edge of the apron. Matt placed Sammy onto the table and Matt missed an elbow drop through the table because Sammy moved. It’s not over because you have to put the opponent through the table rather than go through it yourself. Sammy grabbed a chair from under the ring as the referee talked to both wrestlers to probably give them time cues. Matt put the chair around the neck and hit a Twist of Fate neckbreaker. The crowd chanted “holy shit” although you couldn’t hear them that much. Matt brought out a table from under the ring and it said “DELETED!” on it. Matt put Sammy on the table, then Matt tried to go up top, but he stumbled. Sammy gave Matt a superplex off the tope rope and Sammy put Matt through the table. It went about seven minutes.
Winner: Sammy Guevara
Analysis: ** This was a very rushed tables match that needed more time. I read reports that they were short on time because other matches/segments went too long. Going to a commercial break during a match that short in the main event is likely not something AEW wanted to do, but that’s what happened. Sammy winning is fine with me because he’s the younger guy and Matt putting him over is the right call here.
The announcers put over Sammy’s win as being one of the biggest win of his career, they tried to portray this as a great match and Jericho said this was one of the greatest episodes of Dynamite. I really don’t think so.
There was barely any time left in the show as Orange Cassidy appeared and ran after Chris Jericho at the announce table. There were referees that broke it up. The fans cheered for this pretty loudly, so that’s a good sign for Cassidy. There was a Superman Punch from Cassidy that knocked Jericho. Cassidy kept on punching Jericho, then Jericho got some punches in and the fight was broken up by the referees. Jericho tackled Cassidy again and they threw more punches to end the show. This little skirmish took up the last minute of Dynamite this week.
Analysis: The pop for Cassidy shows that the fans really like the guy. I think from a realistic standpoint, Cassidy should have tried to go after Jericho earlier in the show because he waited until the final moments to finally get revenge for the attack from last week.
Three Stars of the Show
- FTR
- MJF/Jon Moxley
- Young Bucks
The Scoreboard
This week: 6.75 (out of 10)
Last week: 7
2020 Average: 7.20
Final Thoughts
It was a pretty good episode of Dynamite that was also below the average of what I usually give it in terms of a score. I just think it wasn’t as interesting as some of the better episodes. It was nice to hear a crowd of actual fans again although they were so far away that it was hard to hear. It’s not fair to compare what it was like before the pandemic. It was weak in terms of match quality compared to what AEW usually gives us. I’m not saying everything was bad. I just mean that they didn’t have that many good to great matches this week. What they did in the ring was okay, but I expected the Gauntlet Match to be a lot better than it was. The main event with Matt Hardy/Sammy Guevara was rushed because other segments went too long. The women’s match on this show may have been the worst match in Dynamite history. Brutal.
There was more talking than usual on an AEW show, but I don’t mind it because they have a lot of quality promo guys like MJF, Jon Moxley and I’m glad Brodie Lee gets a chance to talk in this company. Based on their attire, MJF and Britt Baker went to the “get more heel heat by milking injuries with accessories” school. They also advanced the Hangman Page story since the Young Bucks kicked him out of The Elite after Page cost them their match. I think they advanced storylines well towards All Out while giving some different people airtime this week. Also, I loved Chris Jericho on commentary as usual. He’s so great at it.
There’s one more Dynamite before All Out on September 5th, so I expect more promos and segments like that next week too.
The next AEW pay-per-view is All Out on Saturday, September 5th. Here’s what we know so far.
AEW World Championship: Jon Moxley (c) vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman (Moxley can’t use the Paradigm Shift)
Mimosa Mayhem Match: Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy
AEW Tag Team Championships: Kenny Omega and “Hangman” Adam Page vs. FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler)
Matt Cardona, Scorpio Sky, Dustin Rhodes and QT Marshall vs. Dark Order (Brodie Lee, Colt Cabana, Evil Uno and Stu Grayson)
AEW Women’s Championship: Hikaru Shida (c) vs. Thunder Rosa
Britt Baker vs. Big Swole – I think it’s official.
21-Man Casino Battle Royal (Pre-Show)
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John Canton
Email: mrjohncanton@gmail.com
Twitter: @johnreport