Episode 50 of AEW Dynamite was taped this week, but it was coming off of its third highest rated show of all time. Last week, unopposed by NXT, AEW landed over one million viewers. Let’s see how they’d capitalize on that momentum with this week’s show.
Jurassic Express vs. FTR
The Young Bucks came out when Jurassic Express was in the ring, and did a double superkick to the referee. It was random and unprompted, so it’s just AEW’s weird way of continuing to show the Bucks as unruly heels. They don’t fit the gimmick, but let’s see where it goes. This tag match to kick off the show was truly one of the best AEW tag team matches of all time. While a lot of these show opening tags are clusters of silly spots and flips with no psychology, this match stood apart. FTR used a mix of submissions and high impact wrestling to isolate Jungle Boy, who’s the smaller member of his team. Jungle Boy is a great seller and adds to his offensive arsenal every week. Everyone got to play to their strengths here and the match structure made sense. After a resilient Jungle Boy couldn’t get the win with a flurry of roll-ups, FTR cheats by holding Tully (and the ropes) for a sneaky pin. Excellent stuff. FTR is the best tag team in the world.
Backstage, Matt Hardy has been jumped and laid out, while Private Party tends to him. Jericho and Hager come up and laugh at Hardy, basically admitting that they’re the culprits. This made Private Party look SO stupid. Two heels just came up and admitted that they jumped their friend and idol, and Private Party stood there like dopes, not saying or doing a thing. Horrible booking here.
Frankie Kazarian vs. Adam Page
Kenny Omega was out for commentary on this match. While he wasn’t horrible or stammering, he has zero charisma. There’s no excitement for what he’s saying, and no conviction in his voice. Omega should be kept away from commentary in the future. But as a match, this was also very good. Kazarian and Page are both good technicians and the match was very physical. Page’s character being at a crossroads suits him, and Kazarian would be a solid mid-carder in a singles run. Lots of good offense and reversals here. Page wins with the Buckshot Lariat, and Omega quickly retreats to the back to avoid confrontation. This did exactly what it needed to.
MJF vs. Shawn Dean
MJF got a lightning quick squash over the AEW Dark competitor here, tapping out Dean to the Salt of the Earth in under 30 seconds. After the match, MJF cuts a good promo about how Moxley cheated at All Out. MJF now wants to be known and announced as the undefeated and true AEW World Champion. He says everyone is in a stable these days, and maybe he’ll join one to get ahead too. This could be yet another possible red herring for the Four Horsemen group. MJF is such a shining talker and personality that he doesn’t need a stable, but he’d still make a great leader for one.
We get another quick “analysis by Taz” segment, where Taz talks about the signature moves of his client, Ricky Starks. This is a fast way to spice up the program with something different, that makes Starks look like gold.
Eddie Kingston is out for a promo with his group. He says that he never lost the All Out Battle Royal, and instructs his crew to find people to beat up. His teams pull random jobbers over the rail and hit their moves, while Kingston did running commentary on the beatdown. Kingston should have a mic in his hand every week. He tells Blade that he needs to get his house in check, which is an obvious reference to his real-life wife, Allie (formerly “The Bunny”). I’m really glad they’re addressing this major continuity gaffe that they never spoke about months ago. This may lead to Butcher and Blade vs. QT Marshall and Dustin Rhodes.
Private Party vs. Jake Hager and Chris Jericho
This match wasn’t bad by any means, but it fell short of the standard set by the other fun tag matches on tonight’s show. The two teams didn’t totally click here, but Hager did do a nice job of isolating Private Party mid-match. Something was a bit off, but when Marc Quen fired him, he hit some solid high-flying offense. Jericho gets the win with the Judas Elbow, but Private Party gets their shine back by knocking down Jericho after the match. I think having two of your biggest name stars (Jericho and Hager) toiling around an already crowded tag division is a huge waste. And the booking of this was weird, having the faces knock down one of the biggest heels in the company afterwards. This didn’t work for me.
Thunder Rosa vs. Ivelisse
Two of the former standouts in Lucha Underground squared off here for the NWA Women’s Championship. It’s so good to see the NWA title defended on Dynamite, and comforting to know we’ll be seeing more of this NWA/AEW partnership. This was a really solid match, yet not on the level with Rosa’s previous two matches against Sarena Deeb and Hikaru Shida. Rosa is such a complete wrestler, from the look, to the tightness of her strikes, to her submission grappling. She mixes up her work so fluidly. This was also the best we’ve seen from Ivelisse in AEW so far. A couple of her moves looked a bit choppy, but the two gelled pretty well overall. Rosa gets the win with a tombstone. Diamonte attacks Rosa after the match, and Shida runs in for the save. AEW is taking a lot of steps to elevate some new women’s talent, and it’s really helping.
Backstage, we see Kip Sabian talking as Miro lifts weights. Miro is the former Rusev in WWE, who debuted as Sabian’s best man last week. The two talked about video games and the upcoming wedding party, and this is really an odd fit. I like both men, but Rusev is a hot free agent with an axe to grind. Pairing him up with a guy who’s been treated as comedy fodder in a wedding angle seems like a weak way to debut such a beloved potential star.
Jake Roberts comes out with Lance Archer, and Jake starts talking about a six man tag for next week. Archer and two partners against Moxley and two partners. Roberts says he wants to go with a devil, so he chooses the Tazmanian devil. Taz comes out, and says Starks and Cage will be his partners, with the deal being that when Archer beats Moxley, that his boys get a title shot. Moxley comes out in the crowd, but gets jumped by Starks/Cage. Will Hobbs comes out to defend Moxley. Hobbs had a breakout performance in the All Out Battle Royal, and has looked very impressive in two straight wins on AEW Dark. Moxley says Darby Allin he’s their other partner, and next week they’re going to war. These are very intriguing teams and I like this setup for the big upcoming Moxley/Archer match.
Best Friends vs. Santana/Ortiz
This Parking Lot Brawl was the main event, as it took place outside around a circle of cars, crowd, and debris. Most readers of this column know that this has been my worst feud of 2020, and I wish they had used this stipulation on something with a more serious backstory (Moxley/Cage or Cody/MJF perhaps). I’ve always liked this parking lot setup, with some shining examples being Steven Regal vs. Fit Finlay (WCW 1996) and Eddie Guerrero vs. John Cena (WWE 2003). As much as I dislike the characters and story involved, I tip my hat to these four men for making a unique and exciting match here. They made full use of their surroundings and kept a break-neck pace. They used 2X4’s, cars, doors, etc with some really excruciating bumps. Poor Trent went through a car windshield and had his back slashed up by glass. While some of these risks are unnecessary and may desensitize the audience, it did create a fight atmosphere that far exceeded my expectations. Best Friends win as Trent hits the “Crunchy” through a board on a truck bed. Trent’s mom picks up Best Friends, and they drive away in her van, as she flips off Santana and Ortiz. I loathe the usage of Orange Cassidy and Trent’s mother in this, adding more tone-deaf comedy and wasting the sacrifice that these men just made.
All in all, it was a thumbs up show. There were no mindless spotfests on this show, which is a breath of fresh air. The opening tag was great, Page/Rosa both got big wins, and MJF/Kingston continue to slay on the mic. There were still a few booking gaffes and things that missed, but they did a lot to set up future matches. This is a show that AEW fans should be sure to catch.
