AEW Dynamite this week saw the in-ring debut of Broken Matt Hardy in an unsanctioned Street Fight against Le Sex Gods with Kenny Omega by his side, but would Hardy be the only one left broken after this grudge match?
Joey Janela vs Cody
Things started off sportingly with the pair sharing a handshake but there was a distinct change in demeanour for Cody continuing the aggressive streak we first saw against Darby Allin last week.
After some tit for tat mat wrestling, the pair began laying into each other with some nasty duelling chops as Cody had a grimace on his face as if he’d been sucking on a lemon. Janela started to take control of the match after knocking Cody down with a leg lariat. He followed up the pressure with some running elbow blows and locked Cody into body scissors.
Janela took Cody to the outside tossing him into barricades and attempted to hit a running clothesline on the ramp from the stage area but Cody scouted it and came back with a rebound disaster kick.
.@CodyRhodes wasn't having any of the antics by @JANELABABY.
Watch #AEWDynamite NOW on @TNTDrama or https://t.co/GdI7QAsxEP for our International fans. #AEWonTNT @AEWonTNT pic.twitter.com/RLjBllf79I— All Elite Wrestling (@AEWrestling) May 7, 2020
A beautiful moonsault from the barricades put Cody back in the driver’s seat as he started laying into Janela but a counter superkick gave Janela the opportunity to hit an elbow drop from the top rope for a close two count.
Another top rope attempt was countered as Cody caught Janela on the top turnbuckle and hit a reverse superplex but Janela kicked out of the follow-up pin at the last minute. After some heavy strikes at one another, Cody sneaked in a Cross Rhodes for the win.
This was quite a hard-hitting match at times that served to add to the more aggressive style Cody is exhibiting leading up to his confrontation with Lance Archer. It’s nice and subtle which is something AEW is adept at when it comes to their in-ring characterisations.
Nyla Rose vs Kenzie Page
The women get a squash match this week as the AEW Women’s World Champion Nyla Rose dismantled Page in a one-sided affair. Her soon to be challengers were at ringside watching in horror as Rose demolished Page, even refusing to end it quickly by breaking up her own pin before hitting multiple powerbombs onto her opponent and finishing her off with a Beast Bomb.
Dominant stuff here that shows that the women in AEW have a big mountain to climb if they intend to take the title.
AEW World Heavyweight Championship match: Jon Moxley vs Frankie Kazarian
A methodical pace to start as Kazarian and Moxley attempted to out wrestle each other as they put each other in holds and powered out accordingly.
A running high knee after the break from Moxley took Kazarian out of the ring but a top rope follow-up was thwarted as Kazarian caught him under the chin with a high boot. Kazarian and Moxley started pulling out the big moves on each other as Kazarian hit a slingshot DDT, Moxley hit a German and finally, Kazarian hit an Impaler for a close two-count.
Nice superkick from @FrankieKazarian here #AEWDynamite pic.twitter.com/Z1N0qpx6I1
— All Elite Wrestling on TNT (@AEWonTNT) May 7, 2020
A nasty guillotine in the ropes to Moxley made it seem like Kazarian was getting the momentum he needed to take the title as after some duelling on the apron he managed to hit a German Suplex. Moxley was on shaky legs but managed to reverse a running move attempt into a vicious lariat.
Moxley would take the win after he dodged a top rope dive from Kazarian after a scuffle on the top turnbuckle and slipped in a surprise Paradigm Shift to put him away. However, Moxley’s celebration was cut short as the Dark Order creeps invaded the ring along with their new member Number Ten and beat the crap out of Moxley and the members of SCU who tried to come to his aid.
Brodie Lee didn’t take long to follow out as well, blasting Christopher Daniels with a chair and stating that he wanted to challenge Moxley for his title. A defiant Moxley responded by saying “all you had to do was ask” before Lee booted him back down and instructed his goons to beat the champion down some more.
A good technical match between Moxley and Kazarian proceeded an exciting new angle as a Moxley vs Lee programme is a tantalising prospect. Both men are likely to know each other in the ring well after their time in WWE which will be a great benefit but hopefully, they avoid going into a slow slog-fest like Jake Hager and Moxley turned out to be.
Lance Archer w/ Jake Roberts vs QT Marshall w/ Brandi Rhodes
Marshall tried his best here as he attempted to take the fight to Archer early but the might of the Murderhawk proved to be too much. Any offence Marshall offered was followed up shortly by either being tossed around like a ragdoll or met with a heavy blow from Archer.
During the match, Britt Baker hit Marshall with her shoe when he was near the guard rails to which Brandi Rhodes responded by lobbing the shoe into the empty arena seating. An impressive suplex from Marshall wasn’t enough to put Archer on the backfoot for long as after a shoulder block he hit Marshall with the Blackout. After refusing to let the referee count the three on his pin, Archer bludgeoned Marshall against the ring canvas before finally finishing him off.
Savage moves @LanceHoyt ? #AEWDynamite pic.twitter.com/40oHomSs4z
— All Elite Wrestling on TNT (@AEWonTNT) May 7, 2020
After the match, Baker beat down Rhodes and tossed her into the ring to which Roberts showed up with his pet snake and draped it over Rhodes in a suggestive manner, a clear comeback to her defiant promo early in the night promising that she wouldn’t be intimidated by him.
This was another good-looking match up for Archer and the post-match angle not only leads us into a match with Baker and Rhodes next week but also gives more reason for Cody’s anger and aggression to build in the run-up to Double or Nothing.
Unsanctioned Street Fight: Le Sex Gods Chris Jericho w/ Jake Hager vs Kenny Omega and Broken Matt Hardy
Hardy saw his AEW in-ring debut here and boy was this a way to debut. Just to be clear, this match was nuts and was full of absolutely brilliant and fun moments as well as just being a great hardcore match. You should definitely check this out if you watch no other wrestling this week.
Hardy started off by biting Sammy Guevara’s hand as Omega and Chris Jericho began brawling to the outside. Jericho turned his attention to Hardy as he dragged him up to the stage and clattered him through the entranceway and out of the site. Le Sex Gods teamed up on Omega and posing for good measure but Jericho must have knocked out the Damascus persona of Hardy as classic Matt Hardy ran to the ring with his familiar 90s garb to boot.
After playing the old hits, including a Twist of Fate to Jericho, Hardy and Omega set up Guevara on a table and brought a ladder to the ring. Hardy ascended the ladder and hit Guevara with a huge splash through the table. Hager had seen enough as he intervened in the match and took out Omega on the outside going into the break.
Coming back, Hager and Jericho had managed to drag Hardy to the backstage area where after smashing a bag of ice on Hardy’s head, locked him in the ice machine.
There were a ton of fun spots in the arena here as Omega was faced with a 2v1 scenario. Guevara drew some money from an ATM and hit Omega with a literal fistful of dollars before taking a buckle bomb into a steel garage door and Jericho wore a traffic cone on his head and cackled like the Wicked Witch of the West.
Suddenly from the ice machine, Damascus emerged as Hardy went full broken and drove a golf cart into both members of Le Sex Gods and giving us possibly the best GIF of 2020 so far.
Run Sammy Run!
Watch #AEWDynamite NOW on @TNTDrama or https://t.co/GdI7QAsxEP for our International fans. #AEWonTNT @AEWonTNT pic.twitter.com/fa3V30oc0b— All Elite Wrestling (@AEWrestling) May 7, 2020
After Omega hit an insane moonsault off an elevated scissor lift, the rest of the Inner Circle ran to Le Sex Gods’ aid, demolishing Hardy through a table and hitting a Judas Effect on Omega for the win.
This was probably the most entertaining match I’ve seen in all year and really took advantage of the space they had to play with. Inventive, brutal and incredibly entertaining, this was everything you could have asked for.
A match for any taste on this episode of AEW Dynamite made this another excellent episode and well worth your time to watch the main event in its entirety.
All pictures and videos provided by AEW