This week’s AEW Dynamite had plenty of matches on the card. From Sting’s return to action on TBS for the first time in 20 years, to CM Punk facing Shawn Spears, the show was packed. Serena Deeb was out to teach Skye Blue a lesson, Lance Archer returned to action since his injury, and Brody King made his in-ring debut teaming with Malakai Black against Varsity Blonds. We heard from Cody Rhodes and Jon Moxley, as well as so much more. To kick off the packed show, Adam Cole teamed up with his girlfriend Britt Baker to take on Orange Cassidy and Kris Statlander.

Quick Results

Adam Cole & Britt Baker defeated Orange Cassidy & Kris Statlander via pinfall ***½

CM Punk defeated Shawn Spears via pinfall **

House of Black defeated Varsity Blonds via pinfall **

Lance Archer defeated Frankie Kazarian via pinfall ***

Serena Deeb defeated Skye Blue via submission **

Sting & Darby Allin defeated The Acclaimed via pinfall ***

The Matches

Adam Cole & Britt Baker D.M.D. vs Orange Cassidy & Kris Statlander

Well, it’s finally happened. AEW’s power couple teamed up to take on Cassidy and Statlander in a thoroughly enjoyable match. As always, these four guys put on an entertaining match. Statlander dropped Baker with a hanging vertical suplex. Statlander landed a pendulum moonsault off the apron as Cassidy fell off onto Cole. There momentum didn’t last long. Cole controlled the pace with a hanging neckbreaker and some ground submissions. The women tagged in and Statlander almost won with a Blue Thunder Bomb. Baker showed off some great technique to evade Statlander’s power. Cole and Cassidy went at it again and the girls returned.

Cassidy hit a 450 on Baker and Cole, then Cassidy hit Beach Break on Cole for a two-count. Cole caught Cassidy with a superkick as he vaulted over the top rope. Baker hit a Canadian Destroyer on Statlander on the ramp as Cole hit Panama Sunrise on Cassidy in the ring, only getting a two-count. Cassidy inadvertently knocked Baker off the apron and through a table. Cole hit a low blow on Cassidy then delivered Last Shot for the pin. It was a fun match with an interesting ending.

Shawn Spears vs CM Punk

Before the match began, MJF walked out and joined the commentary team. The bell rang and CM Punk hit GTS straight away to pick up the victory. Haha, that was amazing. As Punk celebrated, MJF sneaked in the ring, but Punk saw him and grabbed his scarf. MJF managed to escape. I genuinely thought we were going to get to see a longer match, but it actually made sense for it to go down like this.

House of Black (Malakai Black & Brody King) vs Varsity Blonds (Brian Pillman Jr & Griff Garrison) W/ Julia Hart

It didn’t take long for Brody King to decimate Varsity Blonds. The match ended when Black threw Pillman into King who bodyslammed him and got the pinfall. After the match, Black asked the members of the House of Black to rise. PAC appeared on the big screen and cut one hell of a promo. Oh boy, this is getting good. Props to the House of Black’s new music, too. This is probably the most exciting angle for me at the moment.

Frankie Kazarian vs Lance Archer W/ Dan Lambert & Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts

Archer was back in fine form right from the start. He stomped the hell out of Kazarian and landed plenty of elbow strikes and punches. He hit a release suplex and beat Kazarian down in the corner. Archer shouted at a small girl in the crowd as the fans shouted at him. Haha, what a heel. Kazarian tried to beat the Murderhawk Monster down, but he was continually decimated. Archer clotheslined Kazarian onto the ramp and continued to beat him down. This was an execution. Despite Kazarian fighting back, Archer was just too strong. He chokeslammed Kazarian and hit the Helicoaster, then dropped him with the Blackout for the win. After the match, Schiavone tried to find out why Lambert was working with Archer. Lambert started to talk about Hangman until Archer grabbed the microphone and said he’d heard enough, and he was going to show the champ what he was going to do. As Archer was about to chokeslam Kazarian on the ramp, Hangman came out and came to blows with Archer. Hangman got the upper hand and clotheslined Archer over the top rope.

Skye Blue vs Serena Deeb

Serena Deeb hit Deebtox within minutes, then locked in Serenity Lock to make Skye Blue tap out. Deeb is the most dangerous woman in AEW, and it won’t be long before she’s challenging for the title.

The Acclaimed (Max Caster & Anthony Bowen) vs Sting & Darby Allin

Allin got taken out with a chair around his neck as he was whipped into the ring post off the apron. Sting was left in a handicap match, but he did pretty damn well. He launched both men into the steel steps. He hit Stinger Splashes on both guys, but Caster landed a dropkick to gain control. The Acclaimed unloaded a double suplex, then ran at Sting in the corner delivering huge forearms. Despite being alone, he locked in the Scorpion Death Lock until Bowens broke it up. The Acclaimed were about to drop Sting on the steel steps until Allin ran out and took them out. He hit a Coffin Drop to the outside on both guys, then smashed Caster with a Code Red. Caster hit a Mic Drop on Allin, but Sting broke up the pin. Sting dived through a table on top of Caster. Back in the ring, Allin hit a stunner on Bowens and followed up with a Coffin Drop to pick up the win. Sting’s still got it. To jump through a table from such a distance and hold his own against one of the best tag teams in AEW was more than impressive.

The Promos

Goosebumps don’t even come close. I was happy beyond words to see Mox back in an AEW ring, and he didn’t disappoint. He was incredibly honest about his struggle with alcoholism, talking about a dream he had where a black cloud hovered over his head like a demon. Mox said we should be proud of our scars, as they make us the people we are. We shouldn’t be afraid, we should embrace them and be proud. He said he doesn’t run from demons, he just beats the s*** out of them. Mox thanked everyone and said he was going to grab the world of professional wrestling by the b*** in 2022 and come after it because he was truly free. Moxley said if people thought he was dangerous before, he was worse now and was thirsty for blood. Wow, what an intense and incredible promo. Mox is back, and I couldn’t be happier.

MJF was backstage with Wardlow, who looked mightily annoyed. MJF apologised to Wardlow, but then said he was docking his pay because he put his hands on him. MJF talked about how Spears was going to get the job done as Wardlow smiled, clearly on the brink of beating the hell out of his ‘boss.’ Man, if I was Wardlow, I’d have punched the crap out of him by now. It’s coming, though, and it isn’t a matter of if, but when.

Ortiz, Santana and Jericho had some heated words backstage. I wasn’t expecting that. Ortiz said Jericho might not care about Eddie Kingston, but they did. They also said maybe Jericho was the reason they weren’t tag team champions. I mean, Kingston speaks a lot of truth. This feud is taking shape, and I would thoroughly enjoy Le Champion taking on Kingston. It’s definitely one to keep an eye on right now.

Things are quickly unraveling between @IAmJericho, @Santana_Proud & @Ortiz_Powerful! Tune in NOW to #AEWDynamite Live on @tbsnetwork ? pic.twitter.com/Qwgahp9FPh

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) January 20, 2022

Adam Cole cut a promo backstage after seeing his girlfriend go through a table and said next week he would destroy Orange Cassidy in a Lights-Out match.

Cody Rhodes headed to the ring to rapturous boos. I can’t help but get goosebumps whenever I hear his music. Cody is a massive part of AEW. I love the guy and am always going to support the guy. He set up a ladder in the ring and grabbed a microphone. He talked about how CM Punk and the pipebomb was a revolution, inspiring thousands of wrestlers and mobilising millions of fans. Cody said Punk wound up on AEW after not getting to NJPW or doing what he said he would. However, in Punk’s void, Cody did all those things. He said he wouldn’t turn heel because the fans chanted him when he needed it the most. He talked about building the forbidden door, The Young Bucks, Jay Lethal, and Malakai Black. He took a shot at WWE for renaming WALTER and then turned his attention to the TNT Championship. Cody said Tony Kahn has sent a contract in the post, but it might not be the one he wanted (referring to the contract speculation regarding his future). He asked Sammy Guevara what he thought about going at it next week at Beach Break.

Backstage, Tony Schiavone announced Anna Jay would face Jade Cargill for the TBS Championship. Anna Jay said she would do whatever it takes to win. Jade once again said it was ‘that b**** show,’ as the promo ended. I’m happy for Jade because she’s a phenomenal athlete, but her promos are so two dimensional. Sorry, but she does nothing for me. It took Jon Silver being there to make this watchable.

Rocky Romero and Trent took over one of Brandon Cutler’s videos. Romero said they were the guys to beat The Young Bucks as they’ve done it before in NJPW. They challenged the Bucks to a match on Rampage. Yes, this will be a great match. Roppongi Vice were awesome, and their match with the Bucks at Wrestle Kingdom 11 was insane.

Dante Martin was backstage with Matt Sydal and Lee Moriarty. Martin said he had Sydal and Moriarty’s back, and they said they had his. The camera cut to Ricky Starks and Powerhouse Hobbs who said they were assassins.

#TeamTaz is quick to give a strong warning as @lucha_angel1 allies with @mattsydal & @theleemoriarty. Tune in NOW to #AEWDynamite LIVE on @tbsnetwork ? pic.twitter.com/bAJNPBTfgc

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) January 20, 2022

Schiavone was with Kris Statlander and Red Velvet when Leyla Hirsch walked out. She ended up attacking Statlander and Red Velvet.

Ethan Page, Scorpio Sky, and Dan Lambert were cutting a promo on Jon Moxley. Page told people not to take him lightly and asked Kahn to book him in a match with Mox this Friday on Rampage.

Sammy Guevara was in Brazil where he held up cardboard signs that said he would become the undisputed TNT Champion next week.

Matt Hardy was backstage with Private Party and Andrade El Idolo. Hardy said they were now called A.H.F.O. and he was now partners with Andrade.

Everything Else

Billy Gunn met up with Christian Cage backstage and asked that The Gunn Club challenge for the tag team titles. It turned sour pretty quick as Gunn’s boys attacked Cage and left him for dead. I’d actually be up for this match, but it’s clear they’re gonna hand Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus an easy victory in their first defence.

An uncalled for 3-on-1 assault to @christian4peeps courtesy of the #GunnClub! Tune in NOW to #AEWDynamite LIVE on @TBSNetwork pic.twitter.com/fE3PomAKQR

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) January 20, 2022

A video aired featuring Hook and his recent rise in popularity.

Match of the Night: Adam Cole & Britt Baker vs Orange Cassidy & Kris Statlander

Best in Show: Sting

Overall Rating: ***½

All images and videos courtesy of AEW – Very special thanks to Fite TV for the captures