AEW Dynamite moved to a special Saturday slot this week as they looked to take every advantage of the move with Cody facing Brodie Lee for the TNT Championship and a brand-new match announcement for All Out.
FTR vs Private Party
Following their nasty attack on Ricky Morton last week, Tully Blanchard was now in FTR’s corner for this match but there was no Shawn Spears in sight. I wonder if this is going to lead to a reformed Spears teaming with Cody to tackle FTR.
This was an interesting watch as Private Party took a more methodical approach to match FTR’s more grounded style. This served to make the moments where Private Party started flying around the ring all the more impressive.
The best part of FTR is the little touches they bring to their matches. Dax Harwood attempting to shake the rope as a counter to a top turnbuckle attack from Isiah Kassidy and Tully pulling the team out of the way of high-risk attempts from Private Party add so much to the realism of the bout and prevents the action seeming like wrestlers waiting for spots.
.@CashWheelerFTR tags in and ALMOST gets @Marq_Quen #AEWDynamite pic.twitter.com/KqqJVWBsfb
— All Elite Wrestling on TNT (@AEWonTNT) August 22, 2020
FTR tried to keep Private Party grounded for as long as possible before Private Party showed off their high flying prowess and even made time for Quen to have a great pinning rally with Harwood. FTR took the win after Cash Wheeler hit a nasty spinebuster on Quen and followed up with the Goodnight Express for the win.
A great opener that shows that not only FTR are a great team, but they can also bring out the best in their opponents and make them look sensational in the process.
MJF and Jon Moxley
After a promo where Moxley said he knew that MJF was the future of AEW but Saturday wasn’t his night, MJF appeared in a neck brace and Zimmer frame flanked with his campaign team.
The #AEW World Champ @JonMoxley wants to know what @The_MJF is hiding ? #AEWDynamite pic.twitter.com/6YcTEnBYMP
— All Elite Wrestling on TNT (@AEWonTNT) August 22, 2020
He stated that the Paradigm Shift is an abomination and had his lawyer write up a contact for All Out that explicitly bans the use of the Paradigm Shift.
Great heel work here from MJF that adds an interesting addition to the AEW World Championship match.
Jurassic Express and the Natural Nightmares w/ Marko Stunt vs the Lucha Brothers, the Butcher and the Blade
Things started out fast here as the heels rushed their opponents before Justin Roberts could even announce the competitors. The Luchas Brothers flew out of the ring in tandem before throwing QT Marshall to Butcher and Blade like a lamb to the slaughter.
Despite some hot tag attempts, the faces struggled to take control as their dastardly opponents were picking apart Dustin Rhodes piece by piece.
Rhodes managed to break through after a powerslam to Blade and allowed the Jungle Express to begin regaining control of the match. Luchasaurus began kicking everyone who came near him and Jungle Boy flew around the arena with multiple dives to the outside.
All aboard the Jurassic Express ??? @luchasaurus @boy_myth_legend #AEWDynamite pic.twitter.com/xBXj3ZlXeA
— All Elite Wrestling on TNT (@AEWonTNT) August 22, 2020
A miscommunication with Blade and Pentagon Jr saw the pair coming to blows and allowing Jungle Boy to roll up Blade for the win.
As it looked like all hell was about to let loose, Eddie Kingston came to the ring and dressed down the arguing men for not being on a united front. After putting all of them over, Kingston told the men to come to walk with him and take everything they ever wanted.
I really like the way AEW is focusing on factions and a group led by Kingston should be able to wreak havoc. I’m very intrigued to see where this goes.
Chris Jericho and Orange Cassidy set for Mimosa Mayhem
Schiavone was in the ring to interview Cassidy in the ring with the Best Friends at his side. Before Cassidy could explain how he felt about his win over Jericho last week, Jericho himself showed up looking dishevelled with a bottle of bubbly in hand.
After putting over Cassidy’s heart, desire and ability to be a main-event player, Jericho requested a rubber match with Cassidy to prove who the better man really is.
Jericho’s match choice? Mimosa Mayhem, a match where a huge vat of mimosa (bubbly and orange juice) sits at ringside with the winner being decided by pinfall, submission or dunking your opponent into the mimosa.
.@IAmJericho vs. @orangecassidy III – Mimosa Mayhem Match
Sept 5th | ALL OUT!Watch All Out LIVE! Saturday, Sept 5th 8/7c order NOW via all major PPV providers. pic.twitter.com/DwuWkexIpv
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEWrestling) August 22, 2020
After Cassidy accepted the challenge with a half-hearted thumbs-up, Jericho invited his Inner Circle crew out to toast Cassidy. Prior to this Jericho seemed have been humbled by Cassidy but quickly returned to his villainous ways by telling his cronies to beat down Best Friends and Cassidy.
The Inner Circle beat the heck out of Best Friends and drenched Cassidy in bubbly to add insult to injury.
The match type is a bit ridiculous but these two have had a good feud running and the rubber match should be good fun for All Out.
The Elite vs Dark Order members 3,4 and Alan ‘5’ Angels
What seemed like it would be a squash match early on with the Elite running rough shot on the Dark Order members, took a turn as the group began ganging up to stop Omega in his tracks.
Alan ‘5’ Angels laid into Omega with some lightning-fast kicks but a quick roll out of the way of a top rope attempt saw Omega take back control.
It was a brief flash however as Jon Silver and Alex Reynolds managed to counter the Young Bucks offence into dual piledrivers and Alan ‘5’ Angels nearly got a very close two count on a double stomp to Matt Jackson.
How did @KennyOmegamanX survive this?! #AEWDynamite pic.twitter.com/1lc1Do5wJt
— All Elite Wrestling on TNT (@AEWonTNT) August 22, 2020
Matt Jackson fought his way out of the onslaught from the Dark Order with some superkicks and the aid of his brother before Nick Jackson hit a phenomenal senton from the top rope to the outside and ran back in to hit an Indietaker with an assist from Omega. It wasn’t enough for Omega however as he hit Alan ‘5’ Angels with the One-Winged Angel for the win, proving that a one-winged angel is better than 5 regular angels.
After the match, Omega grabbed a chair and looked to powerbomb Angels into the legs of the chair before the Young Bucks saved Angels and condemned Omega for his actions.
It’s about time Omega and Page dropped the titles and a heel Omega would be a great foil for many of the high-ranking faces in AEW.
Darby Allin vs Will Hobbs
This was a short match as Allin started off hot but soon had to overcome the odds against the power advantage Hobbs had.
After gritting out a nasty spinebuster from Hobbs, Allin took the win after countering a slam into a cutter and finishing off Hobbs with a Coffin Drop.
.@TrueWillieHobbs will a devastating spinebuster!
Watch #AEWDynamite NOW on @TNTDrama. #AEWonTNT pic.twitter.com/7MrjBHAkLn— All Elite Wrestling (@AEWrestling) August 22, 2020
After the match, Taz announced there was a new member of Team Taz who was also called Darby. It turned out it was Ricky Starks dressed as Allin as he made fun of his depressive affection before Cage blindsided Allin in the ring with the FTW Championship belt. Starks continued to assault Allin and hit him with a Coffin Drop to add insult to injury.
Allin vs Starks should lead to a phenomenal match as they’re two exceptional young talents who have already proved to have great chemistry together.
Matt Hardy takes his revenge
Sammy Guevara came out to do his cue card skit but someone had replaced the cards with ominous warnings. It turned out it was Matt Hardy who blindsided Guevara with a chair and sent him flying off the stage into a table at ringside.
These guys really do not like each other @sammyguevara @MATTHARDYBRAND #AEWDynamite pic.twitter.com/fV5RDiz1W7
— All Elite Wrestling on TNT (@AEWonTNT) August 23, 2020
Before Hardy could use the same chair that caused his injury to do more damage to Guevara, he was stopped by the referees.
Hardy is an expert at capitalising on any and every opportunity that he can find and this is a perfect example. A fun feud has now become a very heated and bloody feud thanks to Hardy capitalising on his injury, great stuff.
Thunder Rosa challenges Hikaru Shida for the AEW Women’s Championship
A surprise appearance from the NWA Women’s World Champion as she challenged Shida for her AEW Women’s World Championship and promised to put the women’s division on the map.
While it’s a shame there hasn’t been a proper story build for Shida’s match at All Out, a match with Thunder Rosa is a really nice surprise and has the capacity to steal the show.
Deadly Draw final: Ivelisse & Diamanté vs the Nightmare Sisters w/ QT Marshall and Dustin Rhodes
Going into this match, there was nothing I wanted less than to see Brandi Rhodes and Allie win this match. The AEW women’s division needs more exposure to its diverse talent roster and Brandi is not the shining example of that. It would have been pure nepotism for her to win that would not have benefited the division or anyone else.
Thankfully, AEW played this smart. Brandi looked much better here than she has throughout the tournament as she went toe to toe with the veteran Ivelisse and got some good sequences in before being brutalised by her opponents and crawling away to the corner to get a break.
The Nightmare Sisters were able to take back control during the break with Allie isolating Diamanté in her team’s corner but Diamante managed a keen counter from the top rope into a suplex giving the break needed to make the hot tag to Ivelisse.
.@DiamanteLAX with the ? #AEWDynamite pic.twitter.com/H3DySX9FFx
— All Elite Wrestling on TNT (@AEWonTNT) August 23, 2020
Ivelisse was driving Brandi into the mat with some heavy plants but still could only muster a two-count. Brandi and Allie both managed to hit their finishers on Diamanté on a comeback rally but Ivelisse broke up a follow-up pin at the last second.
QT Marshall jumped onto the apron to try and aid his Nightmare family cohorts but only ended up having Brandi dumped on top of him.
With the numbers in their favour, Ivelisse and Diamanté finished off Allie with a wheelbarrow stunner followed by a snapmare and knee strike to win the tournament.
The pair were offered flowers for their victory which they threw down and instead pulled out their native flags to celebrate.
This was a really enjoyable match and the right team won. I really hope Ivelisse and Diamanté stay in AEW and work to elevate this division as they’re tremendous talents.
TNT Championship match: Cody w/ Arn Anderson vs Brodie lee
As I said last week, I thought Brodie Lee would be a great choice to take the TNT Championship and take it he did.
A cocky Cody was quickly knocked off his base by a big dropkick from Lee who then dumped Cody to the outside.
Remind us to not ever mess with @ThisBrodieLee again ? #AEWDynamite pic.twitter.com/t9YInBeAiL
— All Elite Wrestling on TNT (@AEWonTNT) August 23, 2020
After beating the hell out of Cody around the arena to the barricades and beyond, he brought Cody back to the ring and hit him with half and a half suplex.
Cody managed to kick out of a hefty superkick from Lee but could not survive a pair of hellacious powerbombs followed by the discus lariat from Lee as Lee pinned him for the three and won the TNT Championship for the Dark Order.
This is brutal stuff @ThisBrodieLee @CodyRhodes #AEWDynamite pic.twitter.com/irTkOJ4GEY
— All Elite Wrestling on TNT (@AEWonTNT) August 23, 2020
Cody barely got a lick of offence and Lee looked absolutely monstrous in his victory. This is what the Dark Order has been crying out for.
After the match, Lee told Schiavone that executives had kept him down and created the monster he’d become as Cody was taken off on a stretcher.
Lee wasn’t done with Cody though as he assaulted Arn Anderson with his Dark Order cronies and threw Cody off his stretcher. Brandi came to the ring to use her body to protect her husband from any more abuse but Lee had Anna Jay come out to choke out Brandi as Lee dumped the broken remains of the silver TNT belt onto Cody to cap off the show.
This was a solid if unremarkable episode of AEW Dynamite elevated by a spectacular finish. The Dark Order were effective, deadly and looked like a genuine force to be reckoned with. Even Anna Jay’s loss at the Deadly Draw came into play with her animosity towards Brandi which I was not expecting. It’s everything I’ve been asking for and I hope it’s capitalised on.
All pictures and videos provided by AEW