AEW Dynamite
Episode 45
#AEWDynamite
Original Air Date: August 5, 2020
Event Date: July 30, 2020
(aired on TNT)
City: Jacksonville, FL
Venue: Daily’s Place
Commentary: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Taz
Ring Announcer: Justin Roberts
Intro Video
“Dynamite” by No One Hero
Match 1
FTR & The Young Bucks & “Hangman” Adam Page (Tag Champ) & Kenny Omega (Tag Champ) vs 9 & Alan “5” Angels & Stu Grayson & Evil Uno & Colt Cabana & Mr. Brodie Lee
(referee: Rick Knox; watching from the stage: Anna Jay, Preston “10” Vance)
Result: Brodie Lee pins Adam Page after a discus lariat
Time: 17:29
Match Thoughts
Good match. You might expect a match with twelve people to be a big mess. It kind of was, but it was a fun mess. The action pretty much never stopped, and there was rarely a time when there weren’t more than two people in the ring (or at least in on the action). While the match was fun and had some moments of exciting multi-man action, the biggest thing it did was to further some stories. For one, it strengthened the unity of Dark Order and emphasized the strength of Brodie Lee as the leader. And on the other side of the ring, this seemed to further the split between Page and Omega, at least in a few ways.
Partway through the match, Dax Harwood hurt his knee. Everyone except for Omega checked on Harwood, and that left Omega alone to contend with the Dark Order for while. Eventually the Young Bucks got back into the action, but Wheeler and Page both went backstage with Harwood. Page would return later in the match, but it definitely showed that Page’s loyalties are split (which isn’t anything new).
Outside the Venue
Earlier today, Best Friends arrived in Sue’s (Trent’s mom’s) van.
Backstage
Earlier today, Jon Moxley says he struggled with lots of demons when he was younger. People would tell him to not fight certain guys or not do certain matches (like death matches). Moxley says he sometimes wishes he’d listened, because he paid a price for those matches. But sometimes, he wouldn’t change a thing. So he understands what Darby Allin is trying to do by challenging him.
Moxley knows Allin won’t stop until he can’t move. That weighs heavily on Moxley. He doesn’t want to be the man who ended Allin’s career, but with the title on the line, Moxley has to do what he has to do. With that in mind, Moxley asks Allin to stay down when the time comes. He knows Allin won’t do it though, because Moxley wouldn’t either.
Match 2
Santana & Ortiz vs Best Friends
(referee: Aubrey Edwards)
Result: Trent pins Ortiz with a roll-up
Time: 13:36
Match Thoughts
Very good match. Santana and Ortiz have been having some extremely good tag matches lately, and so have Best Friends, so yeah, this was super fun. There were lots of great tag-team maneuvers from both teams, and it often felt like either team could win. I’d love to see this match-up again sometime soon, and I’d love to see both teams more prominent in the tag title picture.
Backstage
MJF (with Wardlow) fires a bald guy. He also yells at Lee Johnson for hanging up a poster crooked, and he tells Nina to smile.
Ring Area
In the ring, Matt Hardy says he came to AEW because he wanted to work somewhere where he’s respected and where he has a say in where his career goes. He thought he could be an attraction in AEW, and that’s why he introduced the Matt Hardy Multiverse. Hardy listens to the audience, and the audience is telling him that they want to see Matt Hardy focus on being Matt Hardy. So that’s what he’s going to do.
Matt also says he’s trying to give back by helping Private Party. He also tried to help Sammy Guevara, but Sammy didn’t want his help. As a matter of fact, Sammy attacked Hardy during his very first night in an AEW ring. That’s why Hardy attacked Sammy last week. Hardy has no more desire to help Guevara, he desires to hurt Guevara.
As Hardy speaks, Guevara comes out from underneath the ring and sneaks up behind him. Hardy senses Guevara, and the two men brawl. The brawl goes out to ringside where Hardy slams Guevara on the timekeeper’s table. Hardy sets up another table, but Guevara slams Hardy into the ring post before the table can be used. Guevara then throws a chair at Hardy which busts him open bad. With Hardy on the table, Guevara goes up to the stage and leaps off, hitting Hardy with a 720 senton through the table.
Outside the Venue
Santana and Ortiz get some revenge on Best Friends by vandalizing Sue’s (Trent’s mom’s) van.
Match 3
John Silver & Alex Reynolds vs Matt Cardona & “The American Nightmare” Cody (TNT Champ) w/ Arn Anderson
(referee: Paul Turner)
Result: Matt Cardona pins Alex Reynolds after Radio Silence
Time: 11:58
Match Thoughts
Good match. This was a good way to highlight Cardona and show what he can do. Dark Order looked really good in the match, and they ended up beating up Cody quite a lot. That left Cardona to get the momentum in the match back on his team’s side, and that’s just what he did.
Ring Area
After the match, Scorpio Sky approaches Cody as he heads backstage. Sky looks down and taps on the TNT Title before walking away. Cody smiles.
Outside the Venue
Beside Sue’s destroyed van, Best Friends are upset. If Santana and Ortiz wanted another match, all they had to do was ask. But now, Best Friends will punish Santana and Ortiz for what they did. And after Best Friends beat them, Santana and Ortiz will have to personally apologize to Trent’s mom via speakerphone.
Ring Area
This is the AEW Super Wednesday Debate 2020. In the ring, Justin Roberts welcomes the guest moderator, Eric Bischoff. Sitting at a table on the stage, Bischoff explains the rules of tonight’s debate and introduces the two debaters: Orange Cassidy and Chris Jericho. Both men head to the ring (Jericho has Jake Hager with him).
Jericho is asked a question, but he starts by talking about how much he despises Orange Cassidy instead. Bischoff offers Cassidy time to respond, but Cassidy doesn’t say anything. The next question is about who is the biggest star between the two of them. Jericho thinks the question is funny, and he calls Cassidy a nerd. Cassidy doesn’t respond. The next question is about rising sea levels. Jericho thinks the question is stupid, but Cassidy has something to say. He has a lot to say about sea levels, and everyone is shocked. Jericho then goes off about how terrible Cassidy is, and he says he will beat Cassidy again next week. Cassidy doesn’t respond.
The final question is about why this rematch means so much to both guys. Jericho begins to talk, but Cassidy tells Jericho to shut up. Cassidy says he doesn’t care about this debate, but he does care about their match next week. It’s the biggest match of Cassidy’s life, and it’s also Chris Jericho’s biggest match. After all, what happens to Chris Jericho if he loses to the man who puts his hands in his pockets? Cassidy says he will beat Jericho.
Eric Bischoff declares Cassidy the winner of the debate. Jericho yells at Bischoff, then he has Hager attack Cassidy. Cassidy is defenseless as Hager sets him up for Jericho’s Judas Effect. Cassidy is down, and the Best Friends run to the ring to chase away Jericho and Hager.
Ring Area
At ringside, Tony Schiavone welcomes Britt Baker and Rebel. Baker names the person she’s picked to fight Big Swole (who Big Swole must beat before having a match with Baker). Baker has picked “Reba.” Rebel doesn’t want to do it, but she reluctantly gets into the ring.
Match 4
Rebel/Reba vs Big Swole
(referee: Mike Posey; stipulation: Big Swole must defeat Rebel before facing Britt Baker at All Out)
Result: Big Swole wins via pinfall after Dirty Dancing
Time: 1:41
Match Thoughts
Squash, but it was fun. Rebel pretended like she had no idea what she was doing, so the match was kind of goofy in a good way.
Match 5
AEW World Title Match
Darby Allin vs Jon Moxley (AEW World Champ)
(referee: Rick Knox)
Result: Jon Moxley wins via pinfall after the Paradigm Shift
Time: 14:29
Match Thoughts
Very good match. As expected, this was a brawl with a fair amount of violence. Moxley came out strong and hit Allin with some big shots early in the match, but he also seemed to give Allin time to think about what was going on throughout the match. Playing off what Moxley said earlier in the night about Allin staying down when he needed to, Moxley was hitting Allin with hard shots, then kind of waiting to allow Allin to make the smart decision. Allin, of course, never stopped getting up, so that’s where a lot of the violence came from. MJF made an appearance in the match to try to influence the outcome, but other than that (or rather, despite that), I really enjoyed this match. It felt like it was important to both Moxley and Allin.
Show Impressions
This was a good show. It was definitely heavy on building feuds and rivalries, and the in-ring action kind of took a backseat at times because of that, but the matches were still good, and the directions of most story lines are headed in directions I like.
Match of the Night
Jon Moxley vs Darby Allin
I think the Best Friends/Santana & Ortiz match is tied for me as far as my enjoyment of these two matches, but the main event certainly felt more important.