The Young Bucks vs The Dark Order

Nick and Matt Jackson were assaulted during their entrance, giving Evil Uno and Stu Grayson an early advantage which they used to keep control early in the match.

A hot tag to Matt Jackson saw him begin to gain some momentum as he took out both of his opponents with a flying double clothesline and some tag team offence from with his brother.

A tag from Grayson to Uno caught Matt off guard as he was caught mid jumping counter in a high angle German suplex that looked stunning in execution.

Nick Jackson received a hot tag of his own allowing the Bucks to take control again as they flew at the pair with high knees and twin Lionsaults but could only muster a two-count.

The Dark Order showed their tag team prowess was more than comparable after some clever counters via combat rolls allowed Uno and Grayson to hit the ‘Get over here’ and launched Nick into his own brother.

It seemed this would be the end for the Bucks as the Dark Order hit a keen Brainbuster/roundhouse kick combo but still couldn’t put the team away.

Grayson took Matt and drove him up into the stage pods and got his Dark Order cronies to block him from aiding his brother. A Fatality attempt was countered by Nick into a roll-up that allowed him to pin Uno for the win.

A really good match that was a great showcase for Grayson and Uno but the finish was a mistake. I’ve been beating this drum for a while now but the Dark Order are severely lacking in wins or coming across as any kind of threat. After their title loss, Grayson and Uno needed the win here and Nick beating them single-handedly just makes them look like mooks. The Young Bucks certainly didn’t need a win and their loss could have easily been span into the events later in the episode.

MJF continues on the campaign trail

Along with getting a new gum guy (who is apparently very good), MJF came to the ring stating Moxley didn’t care about the fans because he wasn’t at the show.

He said that Moxley preferred seeing people who would lay on their backs for him and laid down in the middle of the ring. As the overhead camera awkwardly failed to centre on him, MJF said Moxley isn’t a leader but a rabid dog that needed to be put down.

Moxley’s music hit as a scared MJF demanded his staff guard the openings of the arena where Moxley always enters from. For his first time in AEW, Moxley entered from the entranceway to surprise MJF and beat the heck out of him before planting MJF with a Paradigm Shift.

Moxley gave a steaming promo on how he was going to defeat MJF while Tony Khan sat watching in comfy shorts at the production table.

Still not sold on this angle, but Moxley’s attack added some heat that’s been missing.

TNT Championship match: Cody w/ the Nightmare Family vs Scorpio Sky

Sky came out with a new theme and Cody came out with a much better-looking TNT Championship belt as they were set to square off. This match was a far more psychological affair than the opener but the two started at a fever pitch with quick counters and chain wrestling to begin.

Sky focused on Cody’s midsection to take the wind out of him and even rammed Cody’s ribs into the turnbuckle from the outside.

A superplex from Cody nearly went against him as Sky rolled him up after but he managed to kick out. A TKO attempt was countered into a Cross Rhodes but Sky miraculously kicked out.

A piledriver attempt from Cody was countered into a cutter from Sky that only mustered a two-count. Cody finally managed to hit another Cross Rhodes for the win.

Good ring psychology here as Sky clearly had a game plan that he was executing throughout the match but Cody was able to overcome.

After the match, Brodie Lee appeared on the big screen stating Cody’s transgressions against the Dark Order weren’t forgotten. He said the Elite had been dispatched, which I’m not sure how seeing as the Dark Order have lost to both Hangman and Omega and the Young Bucks in the past few weeks, and said he would take the TNT Championship from Cody but would give him the old belt as a runner up prize.

So, I guess to gold plate a belt you need to create an entirely new version of the same belt. Who knew?

The trigger needs to be pulled on Cody losing the TNT Championship and Brodie Lee winning would give the Dark Order the shot in the arm they need.

AEW World Tag Team Championship Match: Hangman Page & Kenny Omega vs Jurassic Express w/ Marko Stunt

Omega continued his slight heelish antics by slapping Stunt as he tried to mouth off with Omega on the apron. Omega and Jungle Boy started off with Jungle Boy taking Omega by surprise with his keen counters and speedy offence.

A sneaky tag to Page allowed the Hangman to take back control for his team as they began to isolate Jungle Boy in their corner.

After the break, Luchasaurus came in off a hot tag using his hefty kicks to leave the tag champs reeling. Omega managed to get some offence back as he began hitting his opponents with snapdragon suplexes and even heelishly hit one on Mark Stunt on the outside.

A speedy exchange took place at Page and Omega’s team Germans were countered and Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy held their own against the champs with Luchasaurus nearly taking the win before Page kicked out.

A powerbomb to the outside to Jungle Boy followed by a diving strike that took out Luchasaurus allowed Page to hit a nasty follow up powerbomb on Jungle Boy but he kicked out at the last second. A seemingly reluctant Page finished off Jungle Boy as he and Omega hit the Last Call for the win.

A fun frenetic match that had some subtle character beats as Omega showed off his heelish side and Hangman appeared to be remorseful in his decimation of Jungle Boy. The implosion of this team should be spectacular if built right.

Tag Team Appreciation Night

The Young Bucks and FTR welcomed the Rock ‘N’ Roll Express, Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson and the Brain Busters, Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard.

The Bucks thanked the Rock ‘N’ Roll Express for pioneering their style and Dax Harwood thanked the Brain Busters for giving him the ability to wrestle for a living and look after his family.

Rock ‘N’ Roll put over Young Bucks as the greatest tag team in the world whereas AA disagreed and believed FTR were the best.

Blanchard intervened and chastised both teams, saying neither could be the greatest tag team because they didn’t have the AEW World Tag Team Championships.

He then turned to Anderson and chastised him for getting involved with Cody and costing Shawn Spears his match last year. Spears appeared at the ramp and Ricky Morton took a swing at Blanchard before being pulled apart. In response, FTR attacked the Rock ‘N’ Roll Express and demolished Morton with their assisted piledriver. The Bucks came to his aid as FTR left the arena.

I liked the way this segment was multifaceted, adding fuel to the fire of FTR vs Bucks, pointing them in the direction of the tag team titles that Page and Omega are likely on their way to dropping and even bringing Spears back into the fold with Cody.

Although Brodie Lee would be a good choice to win the TNT Championship, a return to the Spears/Cody feud would be a good move considering how under-served Spears has been since then.

AEW Women’s World Champion Hikaru Shida vs Heather Monroe   

As soon as Tony Schiavone announced he’d have an interview after the match with Shida, it was clear this match would barely last five minutes. I wish I had more to say about this match but it was so short there’s not much to say. Monroe took some nasty shots at Shida right from the bell catching her off guard and even nearly countered the Falcon Arrow into a pin but Shida won in the end by turning the pin attempt into a submission for the tap out victory.

The after-match interview saw Shida simply saying she’s still waiting for an opponent and to bring it on. No storyline building, no promo time, nothing.

Selling a female orientated wrestling website whilst the company gives its women’s champion a three-minute match and fifteen-second promo as well as relegating their Deadly Draw tournament to YouTube feels a little disingenuous.

AEW is doing a massive disservice by not giving their women’s roster storylines or actual TV time and it needs improvement. Their lack of representation is becoming unacceptable.

Lance Archer beats some people up again

Lance Archer beat some people up while Jake Roberts gave a promo that could barely be heard over the background noise. Archer then ripped Robert’s shirt off revealing he had ‘Everybody Dies’ written on his back.

This was longer than Shida’s promo and Archer doesn’t even have a title or a programme even which only compounds my prior statements.

Chris Jericho vs Orange Cassidy

Prior to this match, Jericho spoke to new referee hire, Mike Chioda, and asked suggested him and Chioda’s friendship meant he owed him.

Cassidy and Jericho started off brawling with Cassidy winning the initial strike exchange and taking the fight to Jericho immediately. A far more determined demeanour for Cassidy than we’ve seen before.

After throwing Jericho around the outside and hitting him with a hands-in-pocket dive to the outside from the turnbuckle, Jericho began his comeback with a nasty knee strike that rattled Cassidy. Jericho began laying into Jericho with chops and hit a springboard dropkick to show he was no slouch compared to Cassidy.

After the break, where Cassidy spent most of the time in a stalling vertical suplex, Jericho hit a lionsault but couldn’t put Cassidy away. He continued to toy with his opponent as Cassidy defiantly started hitting his lackadaisical punches. An angered Jericho was caught off guard as Cassidy was using the lazy strikes to play possum and hit Jericho with a hellacious superkick followed by a high cross body for a close two count.

Cassidy kept up the attack with some dragon screws but a hurricanrana attempt was countered into the Walls of Jericho.  Cassidy managed to counter the hold into a small package for a two-count and followed up with an ankle lock but Jericho broke out.

A Codebreaker from Jericho looked like it would be the end but Cassidy still kicked out. A frustrated Jericho grabbed Floyd the bat and demanded Chioda look away so he could use it. Chioda teased turning around but defiantly refused and confiscated the bat.

Cassidy took Jericho by surprise and hit a Falcon Arrow for a close two-count before laying into Jericho with the Orange Punch. Santana and Ortiz began brawling with Best Friends at the entrance ramp causing the referee to be distracted leaving Hager to run to the ring and hit Cassidy with a slam but Cassidy still kicked out.

Jericho went for the Judas Effect but Cassidy had taken the move too many times to let him get it this time as countered into a tight roll-up pin and defeated Chris Jericho. This was a really fun match and put over Cassidy strong. There were barely any of his antics as he took this fight seriously and it paid off with a victory. It will be interesting to see where Cassidy’s character goes from here.

Overall, this episode of AEW Dynamite had some great matches worth catching and some nice story building but the show continues to fail to make Dark Order a credible threat despite featuring them so heavily and severely underserves its women’s roster.

All pictures and videos provided by AEW

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