Last week’s episode of AEW Dynamite was a wild rollercoaster of supreme highs and crazy lows. Despite that, AEW has been on a crazy high ever since turning the page into 2023. Some might argue this run of episodes is their best stretch ever!
Could AEW keep the momentum with their return to Texas?
Let’s talk about it!
Orange Cassidy, The Acclaimed, & Daddy Ass vs. Jeff Jarrett, Jay Lethal, Satnam Singh, & Sonjay Dutt
Our first match of the evening set the tone for an awkward evening of wrestling. I have no idea what this match was supposed to accomplish, but it was fine. The Acclaimed lost their titles last week and want them back, but their ascent began with…Jeff Jarrett’s stable? It was a weird matchup built around the size of Billy Gunn and Satnam Singh. Yep. There was a lot of talent in this match, but our opening contest revolved around multiple veterans and a prickly green giant.
On the other hand, we did get some fun moments around Orange Cassidy and Sonjay Dutt. This match was simple and easy to pop the crowd for the Acclaimed to finish the match. The former Tag Champs held Sonjay Dutt in the Scissor Me Timbers position for a whole two minutes until Bowens finally dropped the leg to pin Dutt.
Overall, a strange match with some amusing moments.
2.5/5
- Bryan Danielson recorded a terrifying promo last week after his victory. He’s ready for Revolution and knows how scared MJF is. Intense Danielson can cut one hell of a promo.
Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli vs. RUSH & Preston Vance
Blackpool Combat Club members, Moxley and Claudio, faced LFI members, RUSH and Preston Vance, in a great bloody match that spawned massive interest in seeing more from these four in the future. We might be getting RUSH versus Claudio at Supercard of Honor, which is exciting! Regardless, this match was great and a head and shoulder above everything else on the evening.
The intensity ramped up immediately, as RUSH and Vance jumped Mox and Claudio during their entrance through the lively crowd. It took a while to corral them, but the bell finally rang after a lot of crowd brawling.
It wasn’t long until Moxley was bleeding, but Vance joined the blood party shortly after. All four took turns in isolation, but the match inevitably escalated once Vance brought a chain to the party. This would inevitably be his and RUSH’s downfall.
Jose the Assistant tried using a chair, but Wheeler Yuta was there to take him out. This allowed Moxley to reapply the chain while also performing a Juji Katami Armbreaker while choking Vance with it. That was brutal and caused Vance to tap out. A great match!
4/5
Match of the Night
- Kip Sabian, alongside Butcher and Blade, attack Hangman prior to their match later in the evening.
- JR had a sitdown interview with Wardlow, who is sad about him and Samoa Joe. Wardlow tells a heartbreaking story about his Dad passing away after getting to watch him wrestle, and his previous hairdo reminded him of his deceased father. Wardlow has now woven a haircut into a hatred for Samoa Joe. That’s innovative!
Mark Briscoe vs. Josh Woods
It’s great to see Mark Briscoe on AEW Television again. The ROH legend made his second appearance on Dynamite to face another former Ring of Honor member, Josh Woods. This was a fun, albeit tough, match between resilient competitors. Mark Briscoe came out on top and officially became All Elite.
Both guys beat the hell out of each other right away. It was fast-paced and Josh Woods displayed that amateur wrestler background with ease. Deadlift German Suplexes are always impressive. Woods is a complete package in the ring; his personality and character need a little work. He kind of blends into the background. You know who doesn’t blend into the background? Mark Briscoe.
Mark played all the hits. He teased the Jay Driller, used a bunch of redneck kung fu, and finished the match with a FroggyBow. This was good stuff!
As was the random interlude of the Lucha Bros, who protected Briscoe from Tony Nese and Ari Daivari. Are the Lucha Bros teaming up with Mark? Anyways, this was an easily digestible match.
3.5/5
Segments:
- Renee was backstage with Adam Cole up next. Cole says that very happy with his health progress. His next chapter won’t be revealed quite yet. It was nice to see Adam Cole, but this segment was a little pointless.
- MJF appears in front of an angry Laredo crowd to cut another attacking promo on Danielson. The Salt of the Earth brings out Christopher Daniels to explain how horrible of a person Danielson is. To absolutely nobody’s surprise, MJF paid CD to bury Danielson. Daniels proceeded to build up Danielson in an impassioned promo that angered MJF. It would have been cooler for Daniels to actually bury Danielson with MJF behind his back. Give MJF an ally to control or something. MJF beats up Daniels, which triggers Danielson for the save.
- Gunns backstage promo bragging about their win. Telling people to get used to unhappy endings. True, in all honesty.
Brian Cage vs. Jungle Boy Jack Perry
The classic big, strong man versus speed match between Brian Cage and Jungle Boy Jack Perry came next. All of a sudden, Jack Perry feels like a big deal again, with his fiery spirit coming back to face the much stronger Cage. He needs a big villain to oppose him for Revolution. For example, maybe one with much higher prestige than Brian Cage (no offense to Brian).
That being said, Cage has had a nice revitalization in AEW. He was able to throw his strength and catch Jack’s flying moves. Cage hit the F10 at one point, but Perry kicked out.
This match came to a surprisingly abrupt ending after Jungle Boy hit a cool Death Valley Driver on the much bigger Cage, and proceeded to hit a diving elbow. Perry simply rolled Cage up for the victory after that! It’s a good win by Jungle Boy, but everyone is claiming victory over Brian Cage. Not a very convincing power guy, eh?
3.25/5
Segments:
- All of a sudden, Jungle Boy’s nemesis, Christian has returned from injury. Christian sprayed Jack in the face with pepper spray and hit the Killswitch, confirming that he is perfectly healthy and headed for a match at Revolution.
- Renee was backstage to announce a triple threat AEW Championship Tag match for Revolution. All Elite Wrestling has gone back to the well with back-to-back Tag Royales to determine the challengers for the Gunns. But wait! The Acclaimed have invoked their…”Rematch clause.” Since…when is that a thing?! Now there are two separate things that can happen in AEW when one loses a title: going to the back of the line and a rematch clause. CONSISTENCY PLEASE.
- The Elite are backstage talking about basketball!! AR Fox and Top Flight come back for another challenge. We’re getting this rematch on Rampage.
Hangman Adam Page vs. Kip Sabian
Up next was another chapter in the Hangman story, with him having a nice bout against Kip Sabian. Hangman trying to prove he’s as tough as Jon Moxley has been quite a fun story. Both guys have beaten each other to a pulp, except Hangman has shown more signs of wear than Moxley has.
Enter Kip Sabian. Kip fought hangman hard in this fight by targeting the cowboy’s head; with his fists and mind games. If Hangman couldn’t survive the upstart Sabian, how would he defeat one of the Blackpool Combat Club leaders?
Sabian put up a good fight until Hangman eventually got the upper hand. Page even survived Penelope Ford’s best attempt at distraction to hit the Deadeye to put away Kip Sabian after a nice fight. It’s been a while since the DeadEye finished a match. That’s good to see.
3.25/5
Segments:
- All of a sudden, Moxley and the BCC come down to confront Hangman. Hangman challenges Moxley to one last match at Revolution, but someone else has something to say about it! The remaining members of the Dark Order, Evil Uno, John Silver, and Alex Reynolds, come to the ring to confront Moxley. This was awesome because of Evil Uno. He had such an intensity about him! He told Hangman off and then pie-faced Moxley! Hangman has tried to stay a lone wolf since his Elite days, but the Dark Order has had enough. AMAZING segment.
- JAS backstage with Schiavone. Starks and Garcia this Friday on Rampage. We’re officially at the point where the Jericho feud has overstayed its welcome. It happens every feud. Jericho loves drawing out feuds until the audience is nauseous every time they’re on screen.
- Stokely and the Firm are backstage mad about HOOK. Stokely claims he’s injured now. HOOK has been suspended pending investigation.
Toni Storm vs. Ruby Soho vs. Dr Britt Baker DMD
And we were finally at the main event. This week’s Dynamite main event was a triple threat between Toni Storm, Ruby Soho, and Britt Baker. This feud has been as odd as odd can be. Simply put, this feud is Team Saraya versus Team Britt Baker in an “AEW Originals vs. Interlopers” storyline, with an undecided Ruby Soho in the middle. That’s a great premise, except the execution could best be summarized exactly as this main event was: It started out great but ended up with a weird decision.
This match had all the makings of a great one! All three ladies were in and out fighting each other while trying to keep the other two from winning. Nobody ever had any kind of serious advantage, but the match revolved around Ruby. Would she make a decision in this match?
Nope! Instead, we got something even more convoluted.
Ruby went for a stomp, but Toni Storm beautifully punched her right underneath the chin. This allowed Toni to lock in a Texas Cloverleaf. Britt Baker proceeds to use the Lockjaw on Ruby’s face at the same time until Saraya hits her with a chair. This was right in front of the ref, but commentary qualified it with “Anything goes in a three-way.” Why…? I don’t believe that’s always been the rule.
And then we get a weird ending where Saraya spray paints Toni’s butt for the hip attack, except Ruby stole the pinfall to pick up a big win. Crazy overbooking here, but very happy that Ruby Soho won!
3.5/5
OVERALL
And that was Dynamite for this week! What an odd episode. I had fun watching it, but it was not a strong episode. AEW has been on fire in 2023, so it was bound to take a step backward eventually. The first episodes of the new year have been some of the best the young company has ever shown, let alone string them together in sequence.
AEW has never had multiple poor showings in a row, that’s for damn sure. This episode wasn’t even that bad, it just was missing the same fire of the previous weeks. The best part of the entire episode was a small segment between Jon Moxley, Hangman Adam Page, and a fiery Evil Uno. The Blackpool Combat Club match against RUSH and Vance was great too, but it was a weird episode on the whole.
The worst episodes of Dynamite are still fun wrestling television, and this was definitely NOT a “worst” episode. I had fun!
Verdict: 3.5/5