AEW Dynamite took to Jon Moxley’s home state of Ohio this week, following up a successful two-part Bash at the Beach special where Moxley secured his no.1 contendership for the AEW World Championship. How did Le Champion respond to his next opponent? Let’s find out.
Jon Moxley calls out Chris Jericho
Moxley came down to the ring with a full-on eye patch completing his full transformation in Big Boss from Metal Gear Solid.
Moxley dressed down Jericho’s lack of honour and vowed to take the AEW World Championship from Le Champion before calling him out to the ring for a beating.
Jericho came out responding as childishly as you’d expect, making pirate puns and threatening to try and sleep with Moxley’s mother before warning him that it’s 5 against 1.
Moxley said he wasn’t alone when he had the entire Ohio audience behind him but Jericho had another trick of his sleeve as Santana & Ortiz had procured some street thugs to back them up.
This didn’t deter Moxley who came out swinging before security forced the fight apart.
Presenting Moxley as a Steve Austin-Esque outlaw is the kind of booking WWE should have been doing with him years ago and AEW is leaning into it fully.
The Young Bucks vs The Butcher and the Blade w/ the Bunny
Before the match, a filmed segment showed MJF procuring the services of the Butcher and the Blade finally explaining their connection. Probably a month too late but I’ll take it.
The Bucks started out strong with quick tags and swift tag team manoeuvres but a distraction from the Bunny allowed the Butcher and the Blade to take control heading into the break.
The pair were only able to brutalise the Elite members for a short spell after coming back as Nick Jackson got a hot tag to Matt Jackson and the Butcher and the Blade couldn’t make the comeback with the Bucks hitting the Meltzer Driver for the win.
Matt Jackson cleaning house tonight in #AEWCleveland!
Watch #AEWDynamite NOW on @TNTDrama 8e/7c #AEWonTNT @AEWonTNT pic.twitter.com/tKAa1TKAxf— All Elite Wrestling (@AEWrestling) January 30, 2020
After the match, the Butcher and the Blade blindsided the Bucks but Omega came down for the save with Hangman Page following behind slowly with a beer in hand. Matt held his beer so he could hit a Buckshot on the Blade before heading back up the ramp.
The match here was fun enough and gave you what you’d expect from a Bucks match but it’s getting harder every week to take the Butcher and the Blade seriously. They are desperately in need of some wins to be seen as a legitimate threat or even worth a fan putting them on their radar.
Nyla Rose vs Big Swole
Swole did her best to try and undercut the size advantage Rose had over her but could not best the Native Beast going into the break.
With no picture in picture to see what happened in the interim, Rose seemed to have kept total control but Swole got her second wind and managed to put Rose into a hanging front chancery before following up the submission with a mighty high kick to the face.
It was all for nought however as a spear from Rose gave her the break to hit a sit-out powerbomb for the win.
A serviceable match that felt hard-hitting and brutal where it mattered. Swole needs time to develop but will certainly be a big star in the AEW Women’s Division in the future.
Cody w/ Arn Anderson vs Kip Sabian & Penelope Ford
Kip Sabian wasted no time as he nailed Cody with a dropkick as soon as the bell rang followed by a gutbuster.
The pair went to the outside with Ford screaming in Cody’s ear behind him before taking a footballer’s dive after being grazed by Cody’s elbow. Sabian took advantage with a high kick from the apron as Cody tried to help the devious Ford.
After the break, Cody had the momentum of the crowd on his side as he hit a disaster kick to Sabian but couldn’t get a three count as Ford threw her shoe into the ring that distracted the referee long enough for Sabian to kick out.
Anderson was unhappy about this, and finally confronted the referee who’d he’d been having issues with all match. AA bounced his belly at the ref causing him to be ejected from the ring. Sabian made use of the distraction to grab the referee’s attention and allowing Ford to nail Cody with a hurricanrana.
Well, we didn't see that coming!
Watch #AEWDynamite NOW on @TNTDrama 8e/7c #AEWonTNT @AEWonTNT pic.twitter.com/Ext0wBT49D— All Elite Wrestling (@AEWrestling) January 30, 2020
As the couple prepared to have a kiss by the crowd, Joey Janela poked his head up from the crowd and got a peck on the cheek from both of them. Got admit, probably the best moment of the whole night.
This distraction let Cody hit a suicide dive but Sabian countered the follow up into a swinging neckbreaker for a close two count. Sabian went for his finisher but Cody countered into a Cody Cutter followed by three Cross Rhodes for the win.
Probably a little too much outside interference for the time the pair had here with a few too many moments that should have really been a finishing point. Despite this, Cody and Sabian have a natural chemistry and gave a good performance which made up for the manager muddle.
Britt Baker heels it up
Britt Baker came out for an interview with Tony Schiavone dressed like every popular girl from a 90s teen movie rolled into one. She continued her heel persona by attacking Jim Ross for his comments about her last week and blasted his struggles with pronouncing the names of the AEW roster.
She promised to be here every week unlike the AEW Women’s Champion Riho and capped things off telling Schiavone to brush his damn teeth. She’s a dentist, don’t you know.
This was much better than her promo from last week and actually gives a ray of hope for this heel turn to work. She also put her sights squarely on Riho which at least gives the turn some concrete direction after all the teases leading up to it.
SCU vs The Hybrid 2
SCU came out in Lakers jerseys to commemorate the late Kobe Bryant which was a nice tribute.
They kept control for most of the opening of the match before Angélico pinged Scorpio Sky’s head off the top rope and Jack Evans followed up with a roundhouse kick.
During the break, the Hybrid 2 were isolating Sky and preventing him from making the tag but a quick-rolling escape from a pin attempt gave him the room to make a hot tag to Kazarian.
.@FrankieKazarian with the HOT TAG!
Watch #AEWDynamite NOW on @TNTDrama 8e/7c #AEWonTNT @AEWonTNT pic.twitter.com/F0Yq2dLoph— All Elite Wrestling (@AEWrestling) January 30, 2020
Kazarian fended off the pair but they fought back and nearly got a two count on an assisted side slam that was broken up by Sky. Evans missed the Sasuke Special and was taken out by Sky leaving Angélico in the ring by himself as he got annihilated by the SCU Later and couldn’t kick out.
After the match, the Dark Order appeared on the screen stating the exalted one is very disappointed with Christopher Daniels and has instructed them to target him, his friends and his family. Dark Order, pick a lane. It’s fine putting irons in the fire and all but people are just dying for a clear motivation at this point. Elite or SCU, you get to pick one for now and get the other later.
The Inner Circle vs Darby Allin & Private Party
Allin and Jericho faced off, to begin with, as Allin had a chip on his shoulder after failing to capture the AEW World Championship. A slap from Jericho seemed to only enrage Allin as he went full pelt on Le Champion who scarpered to the corner.
Private Party followed up with a double team to Ortiz but Santana aided his partner to take back control for the Inner Circle. The Inner Circle isolated Marq Quen before he hit a hurricanrana counter for the hot tag to Isiah Kassidy who made swift work of Santana & Ortiz but was cut off by a surprise rebound dropkick from Jericho.
WHAT A COUNTER BY @IAmJericho #AEWDynamite pic.twitter.com/UVDh1ULizn
— All Elite Wrestling on TNT (@AEWonTNT) January 30, 2020
After the break, the Inner Circle toyed with Kassidy, giving him the same treatment they gave Quen earlier, but a swift leapfrog over Ortiz countered a double team attack into a hurricanrana allowing Allin to get the hot tag who flew through the Inner Circle and got a close two count on a code Red to Santana.
Things got crazy as Kassidy became the legal man. Allin took out Hager with an outside dive and Quen followed suit to take out Santana & Ortiz. Kassidy nailed Le Champion with a senton Atomico but Jericho kicked out with a millisecond to spare. Kassidy thought bravely but a lightning-fast Judas Effect knocked Kassidy cleanout allowing Jericho to get the three count.
After the match, the Inner Circle decided to beat down their opponents to add insult to injury but Moxley came for the save with a baseball bat fighting them off single-handedly. It was a badass moment but he probably should have come out earlier to help Darby who took one hell of a beating before Moxley came for the save.
Not exactly an essential episode of AEW as not much-developed story-wise but it can’t be denied that it was an entertaining show altogether with entertaining matches and a glimmer of hope for the women’s division that has been struggling to hit its stride.
All pics and videos courtesy of AEW