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AEW Reviews

‘Say Hello To Our Brother Floyd’ – AEW Dynamite – May 13th, 2020 Review

ByGeorgia Madden

May 14, 2020 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

This week’s episode of AEW Dynamite featured the fall out from last week’s attack on Brandi Rhodes as we heard from Jake The Snake Roberts and the Murderhawk Lance Archer. We also saw the return of Kenny Omega and Matt Hardy as a tag team, as the feud between the Inner Circle and The Elite continued. This show also featured a four-woman match, match announcements for Double or Nothing and there was a murder live on tv.

Lance Archer & Jake Roberts Address Cody

Last week on Dynamite, we saw Dr. Britt Baker attacking Brandi Rhodes from behind and throwing her into the ring, where Jake The Snake Roberts laid a live snake on her body. Jake Roberts started this week’s show by coming out with his monster Lance Archer, who came to the ring attacking Shawn Dean. It’s such a small but effective detail having Archer attack different wrestlers backstage or coming out and kicking a cameraman each week, it makes him look even more of a monster than he already does. It’s a very effective tool to make you fear the beast and shows fans his lack of respect for AEW. Jake “The Snake” Roberts had been asked to give an apology to Brandi, but of course, he refused, stating ‘as soon as she kisses my ass, I’ll give her an apology’.

After an incredibly sexist promo by Roberts about women staying within the home, which did exactly what it was meant to, make people mad, we saw Cody sitting behind the wheel of his Ford F150. When we saw this, I was incredibly inspired coming up with all the crazy things he may do with the car, but instead, he drove 20 feet and simply got out, it made the whole car spot seem completely pointless. I did, however, enjoy the fight which started between Cody and Archer as it seemed real, an angry husband trying to get even with the man who hurt his wife. Overall, a nice little bit of build-up for their match at Double or Nothing as it has now turned into so much more than just a match for the belt.

Jurassic Express w/ Marko Stunt Vs Best Friends w/ Orange Cassidy 

With the Best Friends currently being in the second contender spot for the AEW Tag Championship, this match focused on who would be the next contender to face the current champions. The match started with an even competition between Jungle Boy and Chuck Taylor, as both are a similar size and were able to counter each other’s moves. After both opponents seemed to get nowhere with an advantage, they tagged out letting Luchasaurus and Trent continue the match. Trent looked impressive in this matchup even though Luchasaurus was more dominant due to his size, Trent never gave up as he kept fighting back and it made for an interesting matchup. Ever since the pandemic started, the Best Friends have taken full advantage of the roster issues AEW faced, they have become stronger every week and changed my impression of them. The action left the ring for a period as Best Friends double-teamed Luchasaurus into a suplex. 

After the break, we returned to the ring to see the action continued as both teams fought for control. Rey Fénix flew out of the entrance tunnel and superkicked Orange Cassidy in the head, knocking him down. This was included in the match because both Rey Fénix and Orange Cassidy have been entered into the Double or Nothing ladder match, therefore, it was some nice build-up for that match. Another match announced for the PPV we hadn’t seen any build-up for this match due to the travel restrictions was Jungle Boy versus MJF. This changed today though as straight after the attack on Orange Cassidy. MJF jumped the guard rail to attack Jungle Boy. Chuckie T saw this as the perfect opportunity to finish off Jungle Boy and win the match. Straight after Best Friends secured the win, we saw Wardlow jump the rails and attack Marco Stunt, Luchasaurus was quick to come to Marko’s aid, leaving me hopeful we will see Wardlow vs Luchasaurus at Double or Nothing.

Hikaru Shida Vs Penelope Ford Vs Britt Baker Vs Kris Statlander 

I’m not sure what has happened to the women’s division since the pandemic started, but it seems to be slowly getting its act together. I have been thoroughly enjoying the build-up storylines from the division lately and it has been great to see Britt turning into an exceptional heel. The match started with highlighting the bad blood between Dr. Britt Baker and Hikaru Shida as they went straight to fighting against one another. One thing that didn’t make much sense was that, by the end of the match, Britt’s attention had completely changed from Shida to Kris Statlander. Due to Britt being so focused on Statlander, Shida was able to hit Penelope Ford with a backbreaker, then a knee strike and win the match. I didn’t enjoy this switch up as I still feel there is so much more you can do with the feud between Shida and Baker. However, all four competitors looked impressive during this matchup, they were each given their moment to shine, Shida looked incredible within the ring and I can not wait for her match at Double or Nothing against Nyla Rose for the AEW Women’s Championship.

Matt Hardy & Kenny Omega Vs Santana & Ortiz 

I was surprised this match on mid-card as it would have made for a great main event. The second Kenny Omega walked out of the entrance tunnel Santana and Ortiz was straight on him, kicking and hitting away. It took a little while for Matt Hardy to come to the assistance of his team partner. Once he did, he came to the ring looking like a confused old man who had just been woken from his nap. Hardy quickly turned the tide on Santana as he bit his ear and threw him back up the entrance tunnel. The match started as Hardy and Santana fought out of the ring while Omega sought to control Ortiz within the ring. In the first moments of this match, it seemed Proud N Powerful would dominate, however, Omega and Hardy got their heads into the match quickly as they once again used a classic Hardy combination to gain some control.

I wasn’t quite sure how I felt when it was announced that Matt Hardy’s first few matches within AEW would be teaming with Kenny Omega, however any concerns I had have completely disappeared after another great match this week. After an evenly fought match between the two teams, Sammy Guevara, wearing a neck brace came out to the ring in hopes of hitting Broken Matt with a chair. This didn’t go to plan though as Matt countered with a twist of fate, leaving Sammy to just lay in pain on the entrance ramp. After Sammy’s distraction the match ended rather quickly after some teamwork from Omega and Hardy, Hardy pinned Ortiz and won the match. This was an extremely good match, it worked so well to show the fans how good all four of these men could be in a ring. It was refreshing to see Proud NPowerful getting some air time to prove how good a tag team they are, as much as I prefer their run in Impact at the moment, I am hopeful this match was the first in a push AEW will give them as a tag team and not just Inner Circle members.

MJF w/ Wardlow Vs Lee Johnson 

We haven’t been able to see MJF within an AEW ring for a few months now as he was one of the wrestlers stuck due to travel restrictions. This match was set up as a way to help remove any ring rust he may have developed. Lee Johnson never really stood a chance in this match as it was made to be short, Johnson didn’t get a single bit of offence in as MJF had fun dominating him and taunting the other wrestlers at ringside. MJF, of course, won the match and then announced he would be facing Marko Stunt next week. There wasn’t anything to review within this match, it did exactly what it said on the tin.

Chris Jericho Vs Pineapple Pete 

It was rather strange that all of a sudden, Suge D decided he now did want to be called Pineapple Pete, as for weeks this match was built up around how disrespected he felt because Chris Jericho changed his name. Of course, I understand that having someone like Jericho take an interest in you makes you so much more valuable as a young wrestler, but it just seemed weird to change his tune so quickly. The whole match only lasted a minute as Jericho hit Pete with a Judas effect and won the match with zero effort.

It was the events that took place after Pineapple Pete had cleared the ring, which was truly heartbreaking, after challenging the Elite to a Stadium Stampede match, we saw Vanguard 1 fly to the ring. After the Elite accepted Jericho’s terms for a match at Double or Nothing, Jericho decided to introduce his new friend Floyd the baseball bat. In one of the most shocking segments AEW has ever shown, we saw Floyd and the Inner Circle destroy Vanguard 1, and by the time Matt Hardy made it to the ring, it was too late, Vanguard was in pieces and Broken Matt Hardy had never looked more broken. One problem I had with this whole segment was that Matt Hardy came out to mourn Vanguard 1, even though last week we were told Cody couldn’t come out to aid his wife due to how far the locker rooms were, so how did Matt Hardy manage it?

Brodie Lee Vs Christopher Daniels 

The final match on Dynamite was between Brodie Lee and Christopher Daniels. After seeing Jon Moxley arrive at the arena earlier in the show, I was sure he would be involved in this match at some point. I liked the idea behind this match as it showed that Brodie Lee can beat established members of the AEW roster, this has made him seem so much more of a threat and therefore pushes him into the same league as the current AEW Champion and his opponent at Double or Nothing, Jon Moxley. Mr Brodie Lee turned up to the ring wearing Moxley’s title with his army of creepers and announced he is the now self-acclaimed Champion of AEW.

The match was a good solid match, we saw more of Brodie Lee’s wrestling ability and how cunning within a ring he can, but they did this without squashing the veteran Christopher Daniels. I also liked how SCU spent a lot of time in this match distracting Lee at ringside. This match did last a bit longer then I was expecting it to, as Brodie seemed to spend most of the time being completely uninterested in pinning Daniels. After Brodie Lee won the match with a huge punch to the face, Jon Moxley saw his opportunity to run down from the seats to attack some of Brodie’s creepers. While he was unsuccessful in his attempt to get back his title or to get his hands-on Mr Brodie Lee, he was able to destroy several of the creepers.

Overall, AEW Dynamite put on another good show this week, they had taken criticism on board after last week when many questioned their match choices and lack of build-up for their Double or Nothing PPV. There was plenty of build-up during this week’s Dynamite as every match related in some way to the upcoming PPV. And RIP Vanguard 1

All images and videos courtesy of AEW Wrestling 

By Georgia Madden

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