TJR: AEW Dynamite 09/30/20 Review
Welcome to another AEW Dynamite review here on TJRWrestling. This is episode 52 of Dynamite, which should mean a one year celebration (first Dynamite episode was October 2, 2019), but that’s not happening this week on a show taped last Friday. Next week’s live show on October 7 is a 30-year Chris Jericho celebration and then the October 14 episode is considered the one year celebration with Jon Moxley defending the AEW World Title against Lance Archer. Congrats to AEW on one year of Dynamite. I’ve reviewed them all and I’m ready for more.
This is episode #52 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.
It was another Dynamite at Daily’s Place as the pyro went off and the wrestlers surrounded the ring. The announcers were Jim Ross, Excalibur and Taz. They said Tony Schiavone was in the back for an interview. Taz ended up working the whole show. Ricky Starks made his entrance for a match against Darby Allin, who did not enter on a skateboard. He just walked into the building.
Darby Allin vs. Ricky Starks
Starks went for a Spear, but Allin caught him and grabbed a front headlock. Allin flipped Starks over into an armbar until Starks got to the rope to break the hold. Allin with a knee to the face and a suplex on the ring apron, which is the hardest part of the ring as we know. Allin with a tope suicida (suicide dive) with his whole body taking out Starks on the floor. The big man Brian Cage went out to the ring to face off with Allin, but then Will Hobbs showed up to fight with Cage and they went walking to the back together. That’s nice of them to leave so easily. Allin was on the apron and Starks got a hold of the wrists leading to a hard slam on the floor. Starks with a hard whip into the turnbuckle and he did it again. Allin got the boots up, Starks blocked a dropkick and slapped on a single leg half crab submission until Allin got to the ropes. Starks with a belly to back suplex on Allin for two. They were both selling as if they were in a 20-minute match even though it was only five minutes into this match. Starks stomped on the chest of Allin for a two count. Allin with a forearm to that back followed by a Sunset Bomb for two. Allin slapped on an armbar, Starks nearly got to the ropes and Allin grabbed both arms until Starks managed to get his hand on the bottom rope to force the break. They exchanged hard slaps to the face, Allin avoided a chop block and hit an over the top Stunner. Allin jumped off the ropes while attempting some move, but Starks hit him with a Spear. That was a great counter to the move. It looked perfect. The problem is Starks basically no sold the Stunner right before it, which is a common theme in AEW matches. Starks went for a move off the middle turnbuckle, but Allin got out of that and kicked Starks down. Allin jumped off the top with the Coffin Drop on the back of Starks and Allin flipped him over for the pinfall win after 10 minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Darby Allin
Analysis: ***1/4 It was a good match with some creative spots throughout and they had some believable nearfalls for both guys. I didn’t love the finish because it was just something where Allin shoved Starks off the top and got the pin right after. I would have liked to see it get built up a bit more. The best spot was the big Spear by Starks on Allin coming off the ropes because it looked like a move that could win the match. Allin getting the win makes sense since he was repeatedly attacked by the heel Starks in building to this match.
Cody Rhodes made his entrance with his new black hair color and a black suit.
(Commercial)
Let’s Hear from Cody
Cody was in the ring with Dasha for an interview. She said welcome back and wondering how he was doing. Cody said his trainer Al Snow always told him that you’ll always wrestle hurt, but not necessarily injured. Cody said that pre-pandemic you shake hands over and over and over again as a sign of respect, but that’s not the reason they shake hands. Cody said they shake hands because they need eachother. The marquee has you vs. somebody else, so imagine Cody’s shame when he loses the TNT Title in three minutes. Cody said he got a call from Hollywood, then he took the offer and he was hosting a talent show with people like Snoop Dogg and Rosario Dawson while wondering who he was.
Cody said that Dynamite is a year old while people are calling themselves the ace of the company. Cody said that it can only be three people like Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida, AEW World Champion Jon Moxley or Mr. Ace himself, TNT Champion Brodie Lee. Dasha wondered if Cody accepted the Dog Collar match challenge from Lee. Cody said that as an Executive Vice President of this company is…no. The crowd seemed to boo that response from Cody as he left.
Cody went back in the ring saying “No…as in no regrets” and then said that he accepts the TNT Title Dog Collar match next week.
Brodie Lee went out to the ring to fight with Cody, but the fight was broken up by AEW officials in the back, Dark Order guys and wrestlers that were around ringside. Brandi Rhodes also ran out to the ring and hit a flipping senton off the top onto five Dark Order guys on the floor. Those guys had to sell a dive by a 120-pound woman, which looked silly. Anyway, other women got involved in a fight on the floor when Anna Jay went after Brandi and Nyla Rose beat up some woman by tossing her into the barricade. When it looked like Brodie Lee went to the back, he ended up running back out to try punching Cody again. The guys were separated again, but then Brodie went down to the ring. JR and the announcers talked about how rare Dog Collar Matches are, so it’s a rare match that we will see on the show next week.
Analysis: I liked the intensity by Cody at the end of his promo. Cody has been a babyface wrestler for the first year of AEW and having him accept the challenge is what the former babyface champion should do. This company loves booking these types of segments where there are brawls with many people and there are also pull-apart moments like that. I think it was fine in this instance, but you can’t be doing those kinds of things too often. Having Brandi Rhodes take out four or five guys on the floor with a dive looked ridiculous, but she’s an important person in AEW, so of course they’re going to book something like that. Anyway, the Cody/Brodie Dog Collar match will probably have a blade job within the first three minutes next week. I feel like that is a safe prediction.
The FTR team, the AEW Tag Team Champions with Tully Blanchard, were interviewed by Tony Schiavone. Cash Wheeler said that SCU deserves a title shot since they were the first champions. Tony brought up the Young Bucks to Dax Harwood and they mentioned that the Young Bucks have blown multiple opportunities in the past. Harwood said that just because Dave Meltzer gives them star ratings doesn’t mean they get a title shot. Anyway, Matt Jackson showed up and superkicked Tony without really connecting at all with Tony having to sell it. Anyway, Matt left while FTR wondered why he won’t try attacking them. The announcers reacted to it in an over the top way because their buddy Tony got superkicked.
Analysis: The Matt Jackson cheap shots continue. When are they going to be in a match again? It’s been a while. There’s AEW mentioning Meltzer again. They love doing that.
SCU were interviewed backstage by Dasha where they seemed to guarantee a victory. As they walked towards the ring, Shawn Spears was standing behind the curtain and said “good luck” to Sky.
Analysis: A few months ago they said that Sky was going to be singles while Kazarian and Christopher Daniels were going to be the tag team. Sky is the fifth-ranked singles guy in AEW, but now he’s back in a tag team match.
(Commercial)
The AEW Tag Team Champions FTR entered with Tully Blanchard. “Hangman” Adam Page joined commentary for this match.
AEW Tag Team Championships: FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler) (w/Tully Blanchard) vs. SCU (Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky (w/Christopher Daniels)
There’s a 20-minute time limit for this match as the announcers mentioned about 30 times on the show so far.
Harwood and Kazarian did some mat wrestling early on while Page noted that he was still focused on the tag team division. Harwood went for a hiptoss, but Kazarian decked him with a clothesline. Sky tagged in with a dropkick. Wheeler did a spot where he was running the ropes repeatedly and he took a bump on his face acting as if Daniels tripped him up. Daniels clearly didn’t touch him at all, but it was a heel move by Wheeler. The referee Paul Turner ejected Daniels to the back. Page said that FTR are good at manipulating people. Sky hit a cross body block on Harwood, then a dropkick on Wheeler and he knocked down Harwood. Kazarian tagged in with a double back body drop, Wheeler got the tag and both FTR guys were sent out of the ring. Kazarian slapped the FTR guys on the floor, then Sky ran the ropes and hit a somersault dive onto both FTR guys for a two count on Wheeler. Harwood pulled Sky out of the ring, which led to a Wheeler clothesline on the floor.
(Commercial)
Wheeler with an uppercut on Sky, but then he missed a corner attack and Wheeler hit the turnbuckle. Harwood tagged in, Sky got an inside cradle and Wheeler distracted the referee to generate only a two count. Sky with a Russian legsweep and Kazarian got the tag. Kazarian with multiple clotheslines, a spinning heel kick, a leg drop to the head and a running forearm. Kazarian flipped Wheeler onto Harwood. Kazarian was pinning Harwood and hit a Northern Lights suplex for two. Kazarian with a Fisherman’s Suplex on Harwood for two. It was 10-minutes into this match. Wheeler gave Kazarian a dropkick into a pin attempt for Harwood for two. Kazarian kicked Wheeler down, Sky got the tag back in, Kazarian with a German Suplex and Sky covered Harwood for a two count. Harwood hit Sky with a forearm out of the ring. Sky got back on top and Sky hit a cross body block on Harwood. Kazarian and Sky each hit Cutters at the same time for a two count for Sky on Harwood. Harwood with a Powerbomb on Kazarian and Wheeler hit a Dragon Suplex on Kazarian for two. Sky was knocked off the apron before that. Kazarian shoved Harwood into the turnbuckle while Wheeler was on the top rope. Wheeler sent Kazarian into the turnbuckle, Harwood got the tag and Kazarian countered a top rope attack into a belly to belly slam for two as Sky knocked Wheeler out of the ring. That was a really cool sequence for the nearfall. Sky with a cross body block into a pin attempt for two. Sky hooked the arms for two, Sky got a rollup into a sitting pin attempt for two. Sky got a rollup for two. Sky suplexed Wheeler from the ramp into the ring. Sky with a suplex near the apron, Blanchard grabbed the foot and Harwood was there too. Wheeler covered Sky, whose foot was under the apron and referee Paul Turner was looking at the shoulders of the pin attempt, so he never saw it. The match went 17 minutes.
Winners by pinfall: FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler)
Analysis: ***3/4 This was a great tag team match between two of the better teams in AEW right now. They are both teams that actually follow the rules (FTR!) during the course of the match, which makes the cheating to win all the more special because it shows how crafty the FTR team is. Sky and Kazarian always have awesome matches and I loved their performance here. It was really cool to see Sky repeatedly going for pinfalls in the last few minutes to put over the sense of urgency of trying to win the match before the time limit. I thought they might go closer to the 20-minute mark since the time limit was mentioned so many times. I don’t mind FTR cheating to get the win because it fits their persona as an old school heel team with a manager like Tully Blanchard. That’s how they should win matches sometimes.
The announcers mentioned that there will be an eight-man tournament at Full Gear on November 7th with the winner getting an AEW World Title shot. The first three men announced for it are Rey Fenix, Jungle Boy and Kenny Omega. Page reacted as if he was shocked that Kenny was in it (because Page still wants to be a tag team) and he left. We’ll learn more about the tournament in the weeks ahead.
(Commercial)
Private Party made their entrance joined by Matt Hardy because Isiah Kassidy has a big match against the great Chris Jericho. That led to Chris Jericho making his entrance with his Inner Circle guys joining him. Jim Ross claimed that Chris Jericho has never been better. I disagree. He was better in his best year ever 2008, he was better in some earlier years in the 2000s like 2001, 2002, 2003 as well (plus some recent years), but I understand the announcers overstate everything in this company. I like Chris a lot as one of my all-time favorites, but the match quality has been down this year for him. It happens. He’s 50 in November this year.
Chris Jericho (w/Jake Hager, Santana, Ortiz and Sammy Guevara) vs. Isiah Kassidy (w/Matt Hardy and Marq Quen)
There’s a big age difference here with Jericho at 49 years old and Kassidy at 23 years old. Jericho tried to intimidate his much younger opponent, but Kassidy kept coming back at him with punches. Kassidy with a hurricanrana, then an arm drag and a drop toe hold leading to a cradle for two. Jericho was able to get full control with forearms to the face. Kassidy avoided a dropkick attempt and gave Jericho a catapult over the top to the floor. Kassidy sent Jericho over the barricade and into the crowd where Luther hit Jericho with a punch. That should be a DQ, but this is AEW where the referees don’t care about things like that, nor could we tell if the referee was unable to see it. However, there’s a guy not in a match punching a guy in a match, so you would think it would be treated as something important. Anyway, Kassidy capitalized on that with a twisting dive over the top to the floor. Kassidy went up top and hit a splash on Jericho for a two count. Kassidy charged right into a slam where Jericho slammed him chest first into the mat.
(Commercial)
Jericho remained in full control with a hard forearm to the face. Kassidy ran the ropes, Hager with a cheap shot to the back but the referee was distracted by Jericho. When Jericho charged, Kassidy sent Jericho into the turnbuckle. Kassidy with two clotheslines and a spinning kick to the head. Kassidy with a forearm shot to the head and then a springboard into a Stunner for a two count. Jericho sent Kassidy to the apron, Jericho tried a move off the ropes and Kassidy hit another Stunner for a two count. Jericho with a forearm, then a Lionsault didn’t work and Kassidy hit his own Lionsault for a two count. Kassidy hit a Codebreaker for a two count. Kassidy jumped off the top and Jericho hit the Judas Effect elbow to the face for the pinfall win after 11 minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Chris Jericho
Analysis: *** It was a nice back and forth match with Kassidy getting several nearfalls. Clearly, Kassidy likes the Stunner as a move since he did it more than once. Anyway, Jericho was selling all over for him and making Kassidy look like a credible opponent for most of the match. I like the Judas Effect as a finish because it is believable in terms of knocking a guy out to win a match after Jericho was selling for several minutes leading up to it. When you see Jericho hit that elbow, you believe it can win a match and that’s what a finisher is supposed to do.
Post match, Inner Circle tried to attack Kassidy, but Matt Hardy and Marq Quen were able to fend them off, so the heels retreated.
Jericho was walking outside the ring, Jericho punched Luther and Hager went after Serpentico. That led to a bit of brawl around ringside. Luther and Serpentico are a tag team that wrestles on Dark.
Analysis: That should lead to a match with Jericho and Hager against Luther and Serpentico. Luther is an older wrestler like Jericho who Jericho is good friends with, so now he gets to work with his buddy.
There was a video with Miro and Kip Sabian talking about planning for the bachelor party. They were at a bar arcade where Sabian wasn’t focused on the game. When Sabian was playing a game, there was somebody with a beard that told him he knows how to do something crazy. It was apparently a guy named Billy Mitchell according to Excalibur. I have no idea who that bearded Billy Mitchell guy is.
Analysis: They should have had Miro winning a singles match in quick fashion by now. It still hasn’t happened.
Best Friends with Orange Cassidy were about to be interviewed, but FTR showed up to trash them for being backyard wrestlers. Dax Harwood said they were main event champions while Cash Wheeler told Best Friends they were just comic relief that drive around in their mom’s van. Best Friends threatened to attack, but stopped and FTR backed away. Cassidy said “weenies” to them and left. Cassidy entered for a match.
(Commercial)
The guy Orange Cassidy is facing is “Dark Order’s 10” as his official name. What a terrible name.
Orange Cassidy (w/Trent and Chuck Taylor) vs. Ten (w/Colt Cabana, John Silver, Alan Angels)
Ten gave Cassidy’s sunglasses to Silver at ringside. Ten with a spinning slam, then a corner clothesline and a delayed vertical suplex for one. Cassidy got a rollup, but then Ten came back with a spinebuster along with a pump kick to knock Cassidy off the apron to the floor. Ten whipped Cassidy into the guardrail. Dark Order did their own version of a Best Friends hug. Cassidy went up top and jumped onto the three guys on the floor. Back in the ring, Cassidy jumped off the top, Ten caught him and Cassidy hit a spinning DDT. Cassidy with the Orange Punch and the Beach Break slam off the back for the pinfall win after three minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Orange Cassidy
Analysis: ** Cassidy gets the win back after losing the TNT Title match last week. Ten got a decent amount of offense in there to show he’s a great athlete, but it was pretty obvious what was going to happen here.
Maxwell Jacob Friedman was outside of Chris Jericho’s locker room with his buddy Wardlow with a present. MJF congratulated Jericho on his big win. MJF opened the present and it was an Inner Circle jacket for Hager, then a jacket for Ortiz, a jacket Santana and a jacket Jericho. MJF noted that the box was empty, so there was no jacket for Sammy Guevara. MJF said that this was embarrassing and said it was not intentional. MJF said that he swears on his mother’s life that it was not intentional. MJF said he was simply there to congratulate them on the victory. Jericho asked MJF if he wanted to join the Inner Circle? MJF said he asked Jericho a long time ago if he wanted to join the group, then Jericho asked if MJF wanted to join and they kept talking over eachother. Jericho said that they appreciated the move because it was a very MJF-move to do that. MJF said he was so excited about Jericho’s 30 years in this sport and it’s been a legendary run. MJF told them to enjoy the jackets while adding he would never forget Sammy’s jackets. Jericho said “peace out” and told Wardlow not to say so much. Wardlow said nothing, so that was funny. Sammy said “what a loser” after MJF left and Jericho said “perhaps he’s not.”
Analysis: I’m not sure where this is going exactly, but it’s interesting to see the Jericho and MJF interactions continuing. Perhaps it will set up Jericho’s rivalry with MJF with Jericho turning into a face because I don’t see MJF being a face for many years.
(Commercial)
Britt Baker (w/Reba aka Rebel) vs. Red Velvet
Good to see Britt back in the ring for the first time after a few months. Red Velvet is 0-7 in her AEW career wrestling on Dark. Baker was in control of Velvet on the mat with an armbar. Baker with a forearm leading into an armbar. Baker with a back elbow to the head and Velvet got a bit of offense with a leg lariat. Velvet with a jumping bulldog counter so she’s been watching some Rey Mysterio video since that’s a classic Rey move. Baker with a sweeping clothesline and a smile while looking into the hard camera. Baker with a butterfly suplex and she kicked Velvet into the ropes two times. Baker hit the Slingblade and then Velvet got a rollup. Baker back up with a superkick and a swinging Fisherman’s neckbreaker. Baker with the heel to the boot to the side of the face of Velvet for the pinfall win after about five minutes.
Winner by submission: Britt Baker
Analysis: * An easy win for Baker to show that she is back. They need to get the AEW Women’s Title on her soon. I think it’s going to happen before the end of the year.
Post match, Baker slapped on her Lockjaw Submission with her black glove in Velvet’s mouth. The referee bailed from the ring, so nobody helped poor Velvet. The announcers put over Baker some more.
Next week on AEW Dynamite’s live show:
* 30 Years of Chris Jericho celebration
* Chris Jericho and Jake Hager vs. Chaos Project (Luther and Serpentico)
* Brian Cage will defend the FTW Championship against Will Hobbs. The FTW Title is actually defended for once.
* Mr. Brodie Lee vs. Cody in a Dog Collar Match for the TNT Championship.
The October 14 Dynamite show will have Jon Moxley (or whoever is AEW Champion as if fans are supposed to believe Moxley will lose the title before that) defending the AEW World Title against Lance Archer.
Eddie Kingston walked out with a referee, Pentagon and Rey Fenix.
(Commercial)
Eddie Kingston did a promo called referee Bryce Remsburg his friend for 18 years. Kingston said that last week on Dynamite, he wrestled AEW World Champion Jon Moxley and Eddie did not tap to the Bulldog Choke. Kingston said that said that Moxley told Tony Khan (or TK as the kiss-asses call him according to Eddie) that Moxley wanted another match. Kingston told Remsburg that he never heard Eddie quit, so what made him ring the bell. Remsburg said that Eddie wasn’t responsive, then added he has known Eddie for 18 years, Eddie knows Bryce’s kids and wife, yet Eddie can’t respond to a text. Remsburg said that they were at work and it’s his job to protect Eddie from himself. Good explanation.
Jon Moxley made his entrance with the AEW World Title in the back part of the arena and he’s got a barbed wire baseball bat with him as he got into the ring.
As Moxley stood in the ring, Kingston told Moxley he’s fighting The Butcher tonight and The Butcher was already in the ring with Moxley. Butcher hit a clothesline as the bell rang to start the match.
Analysis: I understand that the reason this is a title match is because Moxley is willing to defend the title against anybody at any time and it was Kingston’s choice. However, this is the same company that says wins and losses matter. They release rankings every Wednesday. If the wins matter then how do you justify a title shot going to a tag team wrestler that’s on a team that loses more than they win? From a logical point of view, they need to follow this up with actual singles wrestlers complaining about how this was a title shot because they deserve a title shot more than The Butcher does. I realize that on Raw it was Bobby Roode getting a WWE Title match after not wrestling for six months, but at least he’s an accomplished singles wrestler. Another difference is that AEW wants us to care about the rankings, so why should we care if they mean nothing? I just want things to make more sense, that’s all. Anyway, let’s get to the match.
AEW World Championship: Jon Moxley vs. The Butcher (w/Eddie Kingston, Pentagon and Rey Fenix)
Butcher hit a spinning slam and knee drop. Butcher did some choking across the middle rope.
(Commercial)
The match returned with Butcher still in control as they showed highlights of Butcher wrenching the left knee against the side of the ring. Moxley hit a weak looking neckbreaker where there was no bump on the mat like the move should be, then a running kick and Moxley slapped on a cross armbreaker. Butcher managed to turn it into a half crab submission. Butcher hit a running powerslam. Butcher blocked a Moxley move, then wrenched on the left knee and bent the knee back some more. Butcher hit a running clothesline. Moxley was on the floor, Butcher tried to throw him into the barricade, but Moxley sold it like his knee was too hurt to run. Butcher charged, Moxley avoided it and sent Butcher into the barricade. Back in the ring, Moxley with forearms, then Moxley sold the knee injury again and Butcher hit a running cross body block for two. Moxley tried a slam, but couldn’t lift Butcher and Butcher hit a lifting uranage slam for a two count. Butcher went to the turnbuckle even though he never goes to the top rope and Moxley hit a superplex. So Butcher only went there to take a superplex? Then don’t do a spot like that. Moxley got out of a submission attempt, then a kick to the ribs and Moxley hit a piledriver for two. Butcher recovered from the piledriver quickly to hit a cross body block off the middle ropes for two. Remember when hitting a piledriver was a big deal? It’s not anymore, I guess. Moxley hit the double arm DDT into the Bully Choke and Butcher tapped out to give Moxley the win.
Winner by submission: Jon Moxley
Analysis: **1/2 A weak main event match that was too predictable because nobody watching this thought that Butcher was going to win. Moxley played the role of the babyface champion that took a beating for most of it and the momentum swung his way when Butcher hit the guardrail. Some of Butcher’s offense bored me, so it wasn’t that interesting to watch. Butcher’s style is the slow, methodical pace and Moxley isn’t the most exciting guy if he’s with this kind of opponent.
After the match, Moxley stared right at Kingston and held up the AEW Title. Moxley celebrated while JR called him the “face of the brand” as Kingston was freaking out around the ring. Moxley continued to celebrate to end the show.
Three Stars of the Show
- FTR
- SCU
- Chris Jericho/Isiah Kassidy
The Scoreboard
This week: 7.25 (out of 10)
Last week: 6
2020 Average: 7.18
Final Thoughts
It was a pretty good episode from top to bottom with the FTR vs. SCU tag team match as my favorite of the night. The matches with Allin beating Starks and Jericho defeating Kassidy were both enjoyable as well. The Cody/Brodie Lee brawling segment was okay, but AEW books so many of those scenes on a regular basis that it doesn’t feel fresh. I’m glad Britt Baker is back in action. Get the title on her soon.
The main event of Jon Moxley defending the AEW World Title against The Butcher felt like one of the weakest main events they have ever had. Boring match. They have such a loaded roster. Plenty of guys in the back doing nothing, so get somebody else in that spot and present a better main event.
I think next week’s show and the week after will be treated like a bigger deal with the TNT Title Dog Collar Match, the Jericho celebration, etc. and you can tell just how they presented this show.
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John Canton
Email: mrjohncanton@gmail.com
Twitter: @johnreport