The first AEW Dynamite of 2020 came to us after a week off for the holidays, as All Elite played host to their home city of Jacksonville. We opened with a package about the recent losses of The Elite, as their re-emergence was the theme of this episode. Tony Schiavone was covering a Georgia Bulldogs game this week, so he was replaced by former ECW wrestler/Smackdown and TNA commentator, Taz. Taz did an excellent job overall and would be a welcomed addition to the team. Let’s ring the opening bell.
Darby Allin vs. Cody
We see a cool package of Darby wearing a printed paper mask of Cody, and then burning it. These little intro vignettes add a pinch of darkness and mystery to his character. This is a rematch of their famed Fyter Fest draw. These two simply have excellent chemistry. They traded holds and pinfall attempts early. Darby hit a Coffin Drop on the ring apron as a callback to when he missed in their previous encounter. After some high octane offense, Darby starts to work over Cody’s arm. Cody responds by weakening Darby’s leg. The limb isolation adds good psychology along with the smooth spots. After over 15 minutes, Arn Anderson (who signed on this week as the Rhodes’ Family coach) gets on the apron during a Coffin Drop attempt and tells Cody to get the knees up. Cody does, and wins with a roll up. This match was paced very well, kept continuity and psychology, and used the new coach well. Great stuff.
SCU cuts a quick promo with Jen Decker, and they say they can beat Proud and Powerful. Sammy Guevara comes in to defend his Inner Circle stablemates, and says that Daniels is old and has nothing left. The two will face off next week one-on-one.
Riho vs. Hikaru Shida vs. Britt Baker vs. Nyla Rose- Women’s Title
This four way dance is replacing the advertised Riho/Kris Statlander match, which will be taking place next week (Statlander had a Bar Wrestling match that was previously promoted tonight). This was one of the better outputs from the AEW Women’s Division so far. The action was fast and furious, and benefitted from the four ladies constantly going in and out. The newly reinstated Nyla Rose shouldn’t be rewarded with a title match in her first appearance back after suspension, but at least they played up her lack of caring about the rules here (by her using the belt before the match, and putting Shida through a table). Rhio’s stomps look awful, but they were smart in not having Nyla (who has about a hundred pound weight advantage on her) not sell for Riho. Shida’s power game was on point tonight, hitting a second rope outside-in suplex on Baker and a Falcon Arrow on Rose. Rose gets the roll-up win here, and Rose attacks her after the match.
Joey Janela is about to speak backstage, and Penelope Ford low blows him. Ford is Janela’s ex-girlfriend. Her new beau, Kip Sabian appears, and they walk off together. This should be a solid undercard feud. Ford seems to add a lot to the Sabian package.
They throw up a “The following is paid for by the Dark Order” graphic, and it instantly puts me back in the nostalgia of 1996 with the NWO. The leader (not sure if it was Uno or a higher power) says we’ll see the full reach of Dark Order soon. These vignettes have become a highlight of the show.
Trent vs. Jon Moxley
Moxley is on another level from everyone else in this company (sans maybe Jericho). AEW has put a lot of faith in Trent, putting him in a lot of longer singles encounters lately. The crowd is on for this, and this match is extremely physical. The two trade forearms and chops that look terribly painful. Moxley hits a Paradigm Shift on the outside and the “thud” is nasty. Two more Paradigm Shifts in the ring, and Mox gets the victory. Sammy Guevara comes down after the match through the crowd, and draws some heat by stealing the fans’ food/drinks. He tells Moxley that the Inner Circle has a surprise for him, and throws to Jericho on the big screen. Jericho says he wants to give Mox a 49% stake in the Inner Circle, along with a fancy brand new car (complete with Mox license plate). Moxley says he’ll answer next week. There’s not a chance in the world that Moxley joins them, but AEW is surely getting some mileage out of this angle.
Guevara stays out there during the picture-in-picture and uses signs to say he is going to hurt Dustin, and for Victoria Justice’s sister to hit him up on Twitter or IG. This was a fabulous night for Guevara, who used the lack of audio wisely, and made the most of his exposure on the mic. Here’s hoping that baby Justice slides in his DM’s.
Sammy Guevara vs. Dustin Rhodes
This was a solid match pitting an up and coming flyer against an athletic veteran. Dustin has done a lot to help the youth of AEW in his twilight run. Sammy did a lovely asai moonsault to the outside…during the commercial. Rhodes hit hard and Sammy sold well. Hager came down and hit a low blow on Dustin behind the referee’s back, and Guevara won with a roll-up. Lots of roll-ups on this show. They’re teasing Hager in feuds with both Dustin and Luchasaurus, so it’ll be interesting to see which one they go with for Revolution on February 29th.
Private Party do a quick promo with a bar setup, but they talk over each other so that nothing gets heard. Adam Page comes in and steals their liquor, and they say he’ll pay for it. This is a continuation of their “Being The Elite” promos, but casual fans won’t have any clue what that is. AEW must stop assuming that all TNT fans watch their YouTube show.
MJF is out with Wardlow for a FIRE promo. This is one of the best things on the show. MJF works a heel crowd in a way that’s so old school, but still works in 2020. He says he’ll face Cody at Revolution, but there are three stipulations. 1. Cody can’t touch him until they fight. 2. Cody has to beat Wardlow in a cage match to face him. 3. MJF must give Cody 10 lashes while Cody is on his knees. Classic, vintage promo that builds up Cody’s response.
Jurassic Express are backstage for a promo. Jungle Boy says he lasted 10 minutes with Jericho and now he’s looking for a win. Marko Stunt tries to awkwardly hug Jen Decker, and then Luchasaurus tried to say something, but he was drowned out by a loud audio track that played too soon. This was a mess.
Riho was backstage, interrupted by Britt Baker. We couldn’t hear the first half of this interaction because the audio track was STILL drowning out Baker. I don’t know if it’s TNT or AEW that need to get their audio issues together, but it really needs to be addressed NOW. Britt says she’s here every week fighting while Riho constantly takes off. Possible seeds planted for a Baker heel turn here.
Pac/Lucha Bros vs. Young Bucks/Kenny Omega
This six man tag main event was fast paced and featured a cluster of moves. Adam Page was also on commentary here, playing up his separation angle with The Elite. This match was mostly just a spotfest with little selling and too many flips, but to be fair, the Jacksonville crowd seemed to really enjoy it. Kenny Omega got the pin, scoring a redemptive win for the Elite. They invite Page to join them in celebration, but he walks off, continuing his progression into a heel turn.
Overall, this was a pretty solid wrestling show. The match quality was high, but there was less pomp and circumstance. I unfairly hyped up the idea of a surprise in my head to kick off the new year of TV. But they furthered Jericho/Moxley and Cody/MJF, which are their top two feuds at the moment. Next week, they are promoting it as their anniversary show. Stay tuned to see how they approach the new year. I hope you all had a great holiday!
