AEW Dynamite airs live tonight from Southaven, Mississippi, a suburb of Memphis, Tennessee. The show takes place on the first anniversary of the AEW introductory press conference and is being billed as the Anniversary edition of Dynamite.
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Jon Moxley is scheduled to respond to Chris Jericho’s offer of an executive vice president title and 49 percent ownership of the Inner Circle, as well as a Ford GT with a personalized license plate.
The AEW Women’s World Championship will be on the line this evening. Riho will defend the title against number one contender Kris Statlander.
Cody and Dustin Rhodes will face The Lucha Bros in tag team action. Cody is also scheduled to respond to MJF’s demands from last week. MJF stated that he would only face Cody at Revolution, that they could not touch before then, that Cody agree to 10 lashes from MJF’s belt on Dynamite, and that Cody beat Wardlow in a cage match.
Kenny Omega and Hangman Page will face Private Party in a tag team match. Jurassic Express will face Best Friends and Orange Cassidy in a trios match. Rounding out the card, Sammy Guevara will face Christopher Daniels in singles competition following their backstage confrontation last week.
A tribute to legends of Memphis wrestling has also been announced. Angelo Poffo, Randy Savage, Lance Russell, Dave Brown, Eddie Gilbert, Tommy Gilbert, Brian Christopher, Austin Idol, Jimmy Valiant, and The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express are those announced as being honored.
Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
The show opened with a recap of The Elite’s big win in last week’s main event and Hangman’s decision not to celebrate with them.
Dave Brown joined Jim Ross, Excalibur and Tony Schiavone on commentary for the opening match. That was super cool. Brown didn’t say much, but put over everyone in the match.
HANGMAN PAGE & KENNY OMEGA DEFEATED PRIVATE PARTY
Quen and Page started out with a tackle-drop down-leapfrog sequence. Quen took over with a dropsault. Kassidy hit a double stomp off the top rope. Page came back with a suplex, then tagged Omega.
Omega and Page hit some tandem chops and high-fived, showing that they’re on the same page. Kassidy hit Omega with a flatliner. Quen and Page tagged in. Quen hit four consecutive dives to the outside in an impressive sequence. Quen hit a 450 on Page for a near fall.
Kassidy went for a springboard attack but got caught with a boot. Quen jumped in and Page hit a fall-away slam. Page tagged Omega. Omega hit a V-Trigger to Kassidy. Quen entered and ate a snap dragon. The distraction allowed Kassidy to hit Omega with Silly String for a two count.
Quen missed with a shooting star press on Omega. Page went for a Bucshot Lariat. Quen ducked and Omega almost got hit with the lariat, but Page stopped himself. They did a couple of spots where Page and Omega crashed into each other by mistake.
Private Party hit Gin ‘n’ Juice on Omega. Page broke up the pin. Quen used Omega as a base for a flip kick on Page, continuing to tease dissension. Omega hit the One-Winged Angel on Quen and pinned him.
Page and Omega fist-bumped after the match.
They then decided to re-do the angle from a few weeks ago where PAC attacked Michael Nakazawa backstage. Omega ran off to make the save. Page stayed at ringside and drank beer with fans.
After a break, the announcers discussed the rest of the card. Brandi Rhodes joined the commentary team. Excalibur asked what her interest was in the upcoming title match. Brandi said she wasn’t interested and was only there because she was invited. That was super weird.
Hikaru Shida and Britt Baker were shown sitting ringside.
Brandi also said that Statlander isn’t an alien, she’s a woman with face paint and we’re all stupid for playing into this. She said she doubts Britt Baker is a doctor because she seems dense, then buried Excalibur for wearing a mask.
AEW WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: RIHO DEFEATED KRIS STATLANDER TO RETAIN THE TITLE
Statlander missed a legdrop. Riho hit a stomp, then Statlander blocked a 619. She hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, then used a modified abdominal stretch into a lateral press for a two count.
Statlander used a chinlock during a commercial break. Riho came back with double knees in the corner. Statlander answered with an electric chair drop and a legdrop for a two count.
Back from commercials, Statlander missed a moonsault. Riho hit a northern lights suplex for a near fall. Statlander hit a delayed vertical suplex off the second rope, into a double down.
Kong and Mel Cruise came to ringside during the double down. Riho and Statlander traded strikes. Statlander hit Cruise with a tope suicida. She went for one on Kong, but got caught. “Japanese Deathmatch Legend Luther” crawled out from under the ring and got hit with a crossbody off the post by Riho.
Back in the ring, Riho missed a double stomp. Statlander teased a press slam. Riho hit a crucifix bomb for a near fall. Statlander hit a discus elbow and a falcon arrow for a two count.
The finish saw Statlander go for a piledriver near the ropes. Kong tripped Statlander from the floor. Riho used a cradle and got the pin.
Kong jumped in after the match and attacked Statlander. Riho tried to save but got laid out. Shida jumped the rail and made the save. Britt Baker refused to enter the fray. Big Swole and Sonny Kiss entered to save as well, as Nightmare Collective retreated.
The match was alright, but was really just a backdrop to the Nightmare Collective stuff. This felt like a miss. The crowd was more into the competitors in the match than the angle.
SAMMY GUEVARA DEFEATED CHRISTOPHER DANIELS
They didn’t get a lot of time and this was rushed. It was also more about the angle than the match.
Guevara hit a Samoan drop, then missed a 450. Daniels hit an exploder. They traded chops. Daniels hit a dropkick and a clothesline, then a sit-out powerbomb for a two count.
Daniels called for Angel’s Wings. Guevara blocked, hit a running knee, then used a standing shooting star for a two count. Daniels used a backslide for a two count. They hit simultaneous lariats.
Daniels hit an STO. He teased a BME. Pentagon interrupted from the stage with a promo, daring Daniels to “show him.” Guevara hit a kick to the back of the head and pinned Daniels.
Evil Uno and Dark Order came to the ring after the match to try to recruit Daniels. He turned them down. Dark Order started attacking Daniels. SCU and the Young Bucks made the save and cleared the ring.
Another angle, another miss.
CODY & DUSTIN RHODES (W/ARN ANDERSON) DEFEATED THE LUCHA BROS.
Cody and Pentagon started off. Penta did his trademark taunts. Cody hit a drop-down right hand. Dustin and Fenix got tags and did a couple of spots. Dustin blocked a pop-up cutter. All four climbed in and faced off. The Lucha Bros cut off Dustin after a suicide dive.
During a break, Fenix worked over Dustin. Dustin sold like his left knee went out. Penta tagged in and kicked at the left leg.
After the break, Fenix grabbed a chair and jumped on the apron. Arn kicked the chair away. Dustin hit a spinebuster and made a hot tag to Cody.
Cody hit a tope to Penta on the ramp, ten punches in the ocrner on Fenix, then tossed his weight belt into the crowd. Fenix blocked a Cross Rhodes attempt and hit a pop-up cutter. Fenix ran the top rope and hit a kick. Penta spiked Cody on his head and shoulder with a driver.
Dustin got a tag and hit a powerslam to Penta, then a destroyer on Fenix. Cody hit a Cody Cutter to Penta. Dustin hit Final Reckoning on Fenix for the pin.
Tony Schiavone went to the ring to interview Cody and see if he would agree to MJF’s demands. Arn interrupted and said he and Cody will talk about it this week. No answer.
Alex Marvez interviewed Lanny Poffo. Lanny put over the Memphis legends and the AEW product.
MJF came to the ring with Wardlow for a promo. He gave Cody a ten count to come out and face him like a man. MJF said Cody was a little bitch.
DDP’s music hit. Page put over DDPY, AEW, his Twitter account and his Instagram. He called MJF a motormouth jackoff. MJF checked his phone in the corner while DDP did his shtick.
DDP said if you’d told him 19 years ago that he’d be in the ring, live on TNT, he’s have said you were smoking crack. DDP said fans have been asking him if he’s coming back for one more match.
MJF called out Butcher, Blade and Bunny. He said the average age of DDP’s fans was dead. He said he would send him straight to hospice, then take one of his daughters and make her feel the bang.
DDP went after MJF. Butcher and Blade jumped in. DDP hit both with Diamond Cutters. MJF kicked Page low and taunted Cody, saying he just laid out his mentor. QT Marshall and Dustin Rhodes ran in to save DDP. MJF retreated.
I would categorize this angle as rushed, but good. This also felt like a reboot of an angle I saw about a month ago. Still, the first good angle of the night.
JURASSIC EXPRESS DEFEATED BEST FRIENDS & ORANGE CASSIDY
Jungle Boy and Taylor started. Jungle Boy hit a nice springboard armdrag. Trent and Stunt tagged in. Stunt psyched himself up. He used a cradle for a two count, then tagged out. Jungle Boy and Stunt hit a ripchord elbow/legrop combo for a near fall on Trent.
After an ad break, Taylor used a falcon arrow on Jungle Boy for a two count. Jungle Boy hit a clothesline and tagged Luchasaurus. Luchasaurus ran wild with kicks. Cassidy tagged in and hit his kicks. Luchasaurus went for a chokeslam but Cassidy turned it into a cutter.
The match broke down. Trent hit a spear on Jungle Boy. Cassidy hit a top rope elbow. Stunt hit a double stomp, a DDT, then hit Trent with a destroyer. Luchasarus threw Stunt onto Cassidy and Trent.
Taylor went for a powerbomb, but Jungle Boy turned it into a victory roll for the pin, picking up his first AEW win. This was fun.
PAC vs. Darby Allin was announced for next week, as was Statlander and Shida vs. Awesome Kong and Mel, and Butcher, Blade and MJF vs. QT Marshall, Dustin Rhodes and DDP.
Chris Jericho, Santana and Ortiz vs. Jurassic Express was announced for Dynamite in two weeks.
Jericho, Guevara and Jake Hager entered for the main event angle. During a break, Guevara proposed a booty call to Salma Hayek.
Jericho introduced Moxley as his friend and protege. Jericho said it’s an important day in Memphis, not because it’s Elvis’s birthday. He said Elvis was a jackass, the Beatles are better, and if Elvis were here he’d kick his ass.
Jericho said the GT is gassed up, the party is ready, they’re just waiting for Mox to accept.
Moxley said no one knows his motivations. Moxley said he can’t be bought. He didn’t come to AEW for money. He came to dominate. And that’s why his answer is…
Yes.
Moxley unzipped his jacket to reveal a Mox/Inner Circle shirt. He said what better way to dominate than to join the most dominant force. He said to be the best, you have to learn from the best, and Jericho is the best. He said they’ll dominate AEW for years to come.
Moxley said all that’s left is to pop open a little bit of the bubbly. Jericho called for music. They sprayed champagne and celebrated.
Moxley said Jericho forgot something. The car keys. Jericho turned over the keys to the GT, worth $750,000, more than all the fans in the building make combined.
The crowd chanted that Moxley sold out. Moxley said he bought a 2015 Dodge Ram with cash and he had planned to drive it until the wheels fell off, but now he’s riding in style.
Moxley said he forgot one last thing…
He told Jericho he was kidding. He’d never join him, Inner Circle was a stupid group and he has nothing that he wants except the AEW title.
Moxley broke a champagne bottle over Jericho’s head and hit him with a Paradigm Shift. Guevara got a Paradigm Shift as well.
Hager jumped in and Moxley retreated through the crowd as the show ended.
The show closed with a strong angle and the DDP angle was well done, but the other angles on this show were a combination of misfires and bad reboots that were bad the first time too.
The wrestling continues to be the strong point of the show.