October 2nd, 2019. The first episode of AEW Dynamite lit up the Capital One Arena with a fresh and new blend of high-octane professional wrestling not seen on American soil in years; decades even. Looking back to that first card shows familiar names: Cody, Sammy Guevara, MJF, PAC, Hangman Adam Page, Riho, Nyla Rose, Chris Jericho, and The Elite. Those names were central to the birth and growth of All Elite Wrestling in those early months.
Fast forward 200 episodes later, and those names are central to the heart and soul of a company that’s no longer an upstart, but a legitimate contender in the worldwide professional wrestling industry. Tony Khan, The Elite, Chris Jericho, and Jon Moxley have created something special in the hearts of wrestling fans all over the world. And nothing represented that more than episode #200 of AEW Dynamite. The early fire of this show was reignited in an awesome blend of high-octane professional wrestling that All Elite Wrestling has become synonymous with.
Let’s talk about it!
Chris Jericho & Konosuke Takeshita vs. Sammy Guevara & Daniel Garcia

There were two options for the opening match on episode 200: The Elite or Chris Jericho. The inaugural AEW Champion got the call in a tag match against Jericho Appreciation Society members, Sammy Guevara and Daniel Garcia. This match was a nice callback to the original episode where Sammy Guevara joined Jericho in the Inner Circle. Man, remember the Inner Circle?!
This opening match revolved around how well Jericho and Takeshita worked together, and how Jericho took advantage of the scheming of Don Callis. During the Blind Tag Team tournament, Jericho wanted Daniel Garcia and Sammy Guevara to survive on their own without him, but the veteran has been seemingly brainwashed by the devil. Callis kept getting involved to help Takeshita and Jericho. The match itself was a fairly standard tag match with isolation and a fun hot tag with Sammy Guevara. We got the usual Jericho cockiness and Garcia dancing too.
But the ending was the true story here. Garcia had Jericho locked in the Dragon Tamer until Don Callis hit him with Floyd the Bat. Nobody but Jericho uses that, which angered the former champion. It also seemed like Jericho didn’t want to win that way, however, Jericho did pin Garcia to indeed win that way. The match and story ended on a cliffhanger as everyone is asking if Jericho has officially chosen the Don Callis Family. Fun match!
3.25/5
Segments:
- Tony Khan was backstage with a quick promo thanking everyone for their support over the past 200 episodes. He then played a lovely recap video of the history of Dynamite. Not exactly sure how AEW made a perfect recap of that many episodes in a two-minute video, but they did a fantastic job.
- Renee Paquette tried to get a word with Jericho about what happened in his match, but Matt Menard interrupted to call for a mandatory meeting of the JAS next week.
- Jack Perry, the new FTW Champion, made his way to the ring for his “Face-to-Face” with Jerry Lynn. Apparently, Face to Face means talking from a hundred feet away because Jerry and Jack argued from the ring and rampway. It made sense, however, because Jerry called a good friend to help him out: Rob Van fucking Dam! AEW even acquired his old ECW theme song! The veteran looked great, by the way. Jack Perry then tried to attack RVD but failed and hid behind a child in the crowd. This version of Jack continues to be fantastic.
Trent Baretta vs. Penta el Zero Miedo vs. Jon Moxley

Up next was a three-way match between AEW originals in a continuation of last week’s crazy triple threat and brawl afterward. This match was an “Anything Goes” match featuring Jon Moxley, so we know how it went; bloody with a side of thumbtacks.
It was a really fun, high-impact match with no lulls in the action. They all traded move after move on one another. The exceptionally weird part was that Trent Baretta, not Jon Moxley, was the first to bleed. A ton of weapons were involved as they tore each other apart for a wonderfully paced twelve minutes. The ending though, was the true surprise.
After the ring was a minefield of tacks, Moxley hit the paradigm shift onto Penta, but Trent Baretta was there to take advantage. The Best Friend hit Moxley with a knee strike and stole the pinfall to win this crazy triple threat. TRENT BARETTA won a big match! That was awesome to see.
3.5/5
Match of the Night
Immediately following the bell, Moxley attacked in frustration. This caused everyone to come out for a brawl and it was announced that The Blackpool Combat Club and Best Friends were going to Daily’s Place to have a Parking Lot Brawl on Rampage. Remember that amazing Parking Lot Brawl between The Best Friends and Proud and Powerful?
Segments:
- Renee Paquette was then backstage to interview none other than Rob Van Dam! RVD challenged Jack Perry for the FTW Championship next week and planned to retire the belt after winning.
- Everyone’s favorite Champion, MJF, made his way to the ring to the chorus of huge chants from the crowd. It is weird seeing him with a huge smile on his face! He then has a heart-to-heart with the crowd about his previous insecurities, mental illnesses, and childhood bullying causing all of his evilness. But this man has changed because of a true friendship with Adam Cole and the love of the fans. Cole arrived to be awarded the biggest prize of them all–an AEW Championship match at Wembley Stadium. This was such an awesome and fresh way to create a huge main event match. Someone is going to betray the other in this match and my heart is not ready for it. While this was happening, Roddy Strong was having a temper tantrum when Adam Cole’s old teammates, The Kingdom, seemed to sympathize with Roddy. Very interesting!
The Elite vs. Jeff Jarrett, Jay Lethal, & Satnam Singh

Let’s take a time machine back to the first episode of Dynamite and tell our past selves that The Elite would have a trios match against the legend himself, Jeff Jarrett, Jay Lethal, and literal giant Satnam Singh. Well, everyone’s past selves would first say, “Who the hell is Satnam Singh?” while questioning whether AEW was about to go under or something. This trios match was wonky, random, and a hell of a good time.
It’s a matchup of goofballs on both sides. The Elite, Jeff Jarrett, Jay Lethal, and Sonjay Dutt have all made careers of being good wrestlers, while still being goofy as hell. Just look at that photo of Kenny Omega after pinning Jarrett. His face cracks me up every time!
This match wasn’t anything technical, by any means. The heels isolated Nick Jackson until the quintessential hot tag sped up the pace. It was a good match exclusively because of how funny it was. Everyone was afraid of the size of Satnam Singh, which…obviously. That guy is ginormous. Then the end happened where the goofy shenanigans cranked up to 11.
It all started when Karen Jarrett tried getting involved but hilariously received a cold spray shot from Brandon Cutler, then The Hardys helped out for some reason, then Hangman hit Jarrett with the Buckshot Lariat, and finally, Omega landed the One Winged Angel to win the match. Such a fun time this match was. Never going to complain about that.
3/5
The Elite announce that they have re-signed, after the match. They specifically name-drop Collison as a show they’ll perform on in the future. Let the speculation begin!
- Up next the Mogul Embassy had an awesome promo package discussing AR Fox’s actions last week. They also showed a video of them going to Nick Wayne’s house to absolutely brutalize the young kid. They called Darby Allin while Nick was passed out and bloody. The Mogul Embassy is IT.
RoH Tag Team Championship: Aussie Open (c) vs. Kommander & El Hijo del Vikingo

Up next was a Ring of Honor Tag Team Championship match with Aussie Open defending against the team of Komander and El Hijo del Vikingo. The first thing to notice with this match was the matching outfits of the challengers and their awesome tandem moves throughout. Are they a new official team? And if so, please give them all of the time! They were so much fun together.
This was a match between differing styles. The Luchadors obviously flew around and Aussie Open masterfully countered it with strength. Mark Davis is a beast, but Fletcher showed some strength too. Fletcher is the smaller of the two, but he’s no slouch. Aussie Open is a complete team, through and through.
This match was fairly straightforward as the champs kept the advantage for the most part, with one wild exception. Komander leaped over Mark Davis, who was holding Vikingo, to deliver a destroyer on Kyle Fletcher. You think you’ve seen all the ways a Destroyer can be deployed…
The challengers had a couple of fun parts, but Aussie Open finished the match with the Coriolis. The Champs defended their belts in a fun match. Good stuff to continue a fun night.
3.25/5
AEW Women’s World Championship: Toni Storm (c) vs. Hikaru Shida

ANNNDDDD NEWWWWWW!!!!!
She did it.
Shida is the AEW Women’s World Champion once again, and people get to see it.
It was a very unexpected decision in a fun match between two of the best AEW Women’s Champions ever. Shida outlasted Toni Storm in a fun match that could have been longer, in all honesty, but the result was a welcome surprise that made the match better.
It was a slow and methodical match that never really picked up until the end. They traded blows with one another, but the story was how it usually is with Toni Storm matches, all about The Outcasts. Hikaru Shida took all their interference in stride and came out on top. Saraya tried introducing the kendo stick, Ruby Soho tried the distraction, and Toni Storm used the spray paint. Shida would not be stopped and reversed a rollup into her own pin to win the AEW Women’s World Championship.
Hikaru Shida in front of eighty thousand people in Wembley Stadium is a fantastic idea.
3/5
OVERALL
And that was Dynamite for the week! How did you feel about the show!? Let me know on Twitter! (I’m not calling it X)
I think All Elite Wrestling truly brought back the vibe of the early episodes. There was a special spark this week that felt really good. It could just be that AEW is having an incredible 2023 and that spark has been there all year. Little column A and column B.
Great show! The road to All In is here and that’s incredibly exciting.
Verdict: 4.5/5