AEW Dynamite 4-22-20 - Dustin vs. Sabian

The TNT Title tourney continues with Dustin putting his career on the line against Kip Sabian, for reasons. Cody puts the title over for Turner network and talks about complacency. Cody says that everyone in this title tourney could be champion. This was just a wee bit masturbatory. Scorpio Sky hype video is amped up. Bubbly Bunch is upcoming alongside SAMMY LIVE VLOGGING BOXING IN HIS HOUSE. Jericho creams over Sammy G vs. Darby. Sammy says he was in the first ever Dynamite match - so it's fitting that he's the first TNT Champion. Sammy says that he and Jericho are Le Sex Gods.

Spears holds up a sign saying Sammy owes him money and then Darby comes out looking like THE MAN. Flip dive starts off before the match for Sammy, giving him an early edge. Sammy builds up a ladder bridge on the barricade and Jericho uses the barricade being a building device being enough reason to have them. GIANT splash off the top onto a ladder - and it's a legit Werner ladder. Jesus!

They go for a break to give Darby time to recover and Jericho says it's time to end it. That all gets 2. Jericho says he taught Sammy how to slow it down and grind people down. Darby tapes Sammy's legs up and wrenches his foot on top after taking off the sock and boot. Well that was weird but neat. Darby locks on a kneebar, but Sammy escapes and hits a spinning backfist to the bloody nose of Darby.

Darby hits a low-pe and eats the barricade. Jericho hopes he'd taken out Pineapple Pete. Sammy hits the 630, but Darby grabs the rope. Darby avoids an irish whip by grabbing the arm and landing the standing diamond dust and wins with the last supper! THIS RULED! Great agony of defeat shot of Sammy after this one. Matt runs through his challenge to Jericho and Jericho declined it - but Sammy may accept it and he will sentence the Fake Latino to Deletion! Then we get Regular Matt Hardy talking. Okay, this needs to be either one or the other, because this pseudo Three Faces of Foley stuff doesn't work. This Two Faces of Hardy stuff needs to be consistent - so if this is the start of that, okay. Otherwise, going from Broken to Regular Matt is tonal whiplash.

Taz breaks down the V trigger and the snapdragon - this is right out of the late '80s or early '90s and it's so simple and smart. Alan Angels comes out after losing to Archer and I think working Raw a few weeks back is out to face Omega. Jericho says he respects Omega - he may not like him, but he's one of the best ever. Jericho adds in that Kenny is the second most-famous person from Winnipeg. Jericho says that Kenny was in Deep South, developmental and they didn't use him and now he's here. He's also still a pumpkin-headed dipshit.  Now that's how you sell taking knees to the back off a senton attempt. Just perfect. Jericho says a match like this keeps you sharp and wins like this help your record out. I like Jericho not being sure where this is being placed - so he says "as we talked about - or will!" Snapdragon and the V trigger gets 2. Deadlift doctor bomb into the kneeling V trigger ends it. This was good, but Kenny gave him too much.

Sky says he always wanted to be a wrestler for as long as he could remember. He says in 2008, he had an MRI that showed his L2 was demolished. He woke up one day and felt better and then he felt better as time went on. He's been okay since, but always worried because he never made it. He talked at his mother's gravesite and asked to be shone his direction. He joined SCU in 2017 and that is where this part 1 ends.

Road To video with Dustin tells the story of him having one more run at glory at 51. BTE ep 200 Part 3 is hyped up without really doing anything to tell the story of how they got there. Havoc beating up Orange last week is shown to set up their match tonight. "From wherever, weighing whatever - Orange Cassidy!" is great and then Havoc just destroys Orange. Havoc bare-chest chops him and the heels chant "MORE MORE MORE!" Jericho says Havoc's beating Orange to a pulp. I love Jericho's "HE'S DOING BIG THINGS WITH LUTHER ON DARK!". What a pal Jericho is. Cross armbar by Jimmy, but Orange gets to the rope.

SHOTGUN DROPKICK BY ORANGE AND A TOPE HITS! Crossbody hits and a tilt a whirl DDT gets 2. They fight up top and Orange shoves him down and Havoc takes a nasty bump. Falling sofa splash does Bully Ray proud. Acid rainmaker is avoided and Orange hits a superman forearm! Chuck prevents Penelope from getting involved and shoves her into a split so Kip flip dives onto the faces and Orange cradles him to win. MJF update and Wardlow's up next too.

MJF talks about mankind never being through such a hard time, but he suffered a hangnail injury while gambling throughout the show during his last appearance on Dynamite. Wardlow comes out to demolish Lee Johnson. That Goldberg press slam reminded me of what Jericho said about landing on your heels first being worse than your back. Massive suplex toss by Wardlow before he puts him up top for a bring-down into the knee. Airplane spin F5 ends it.

Someone is shown on his iMac getting a breakup call from Samantha. He goes to join the dark order and Mr. Brodie Lee welcomes him. He asks how tall he is and he's 6'2, 240 and played college football. Lee says that many in AEW aren't hard workers, but he is - and he wants to offer him the power of the Dark Order. Justin Law's out to be destroyed by Mr. Brodie Lee. His robe is NJPW-level great. Lee destroys him with a superkick, a half-hatch suplex, and then half and half Tazplexes him! Black Hole Slam hits and the discus lariat ends it. Lee always stared down Marko - so they're setting up something there. Jericho talked about the AEW Galaxy - which is a line Kaz used for TNA to mock WWE a decade ago.

Backstage at the gym, Chuckie T is pissed about what happened - and Trent says he'll face Kip and Havoc. BRODIE VS. STUNT NEXT WEEK! Jake tells Sammy he's too cute to be sad and then we get some greatness with Ortiz's Grinch dolls. Jericho cuts a promo with his Roomba and puts HAND SANITIZER on the line for LEGALLY DISTINCT FROM TIKTOK FlimFlam videos. Sammy wins and Jericho cuts a promo on Sammy for winning the hand sanitizer.

We get a great promo from Dustin about being able to cement a 33 year career. Kip says Dustin's in his prime now - and he agrees. But he's more dangerous than anyone because he hasn't even reached his prime yet and he'll get his stepping stone to the World title. Penelope comes out with Kip in some tremendous shorts. I like AEW keeping the tradition alive of Rhodes' putting in stipulations in their matches ...for some reason. 2 for 2 so far.

Dustin gets the drop-down uppercut and a nice armdrag. Dustin chops him in the corner. Kip gets a step-up kick and a PK for 2. Kip dominates the knee and Jericho says that if this was MMA, Kip would win on points. Inverted atomic and the slick bulldog hits for 2. He should win a squash with that because no one does it better than him. Triple jump DDT hits for Kip, but only gets 2. Ford comes in, but Brandi's bionic spear helps Dustin hit the Destroyer to win it - and it's now the Code Red.

AEW Dynamite 4/15/20 - Moxley vs. Hager Empty Arena Fight

Things start off with Jake Roberts and Lance Archer, with Roberts saying the TNT Title was made for them. Jake does a great job putting Lance over as the focus. The title is a bone for the dog, and you can't take the bone from him. Roberts puts over Cabana as being good - but he's not 275 pounds of attitude like Lance Archer. They shill the match and the AEW watchalong contest. The Bubbly Bunch is a thing and Colt puts himself over and says he's over the top and fun - but he's a great wrestler at his core. THIS is how you hype up tournament matches to make each bout without a core story in it to have a story and stakes. Tale of the tape helps too.

Lance runs by and slugs a plant and then tears a sign. Colt flies in and the flying apple meets a German into a full nelson slam for 2. Jericho puts Archer over about being tough to have giant red braids like that.Archer goes for a second rope splash and misses before the crowd chants for Colt. Lance rushes in and he eats some bionic elbows! FLYING APPLE HITS! Fakeout splash hits and Jericho namedrops Super Porky. Pounce hits and Jericho and Tony debate calling it a pounce. Corner to mid-ring blackout ends it. Dr. Britt is in action next.

BUT FIRST, A GREAT SKIT WHERE SHE HAS GRIT! Ariel Helwani picks Hager to win. Surprised to see TNT allow them to list ESPN, but hey why not. Taz picks Mox. Gotta show love for his fellow orange and black lover. Then we get a video breakdown of the arm triangle by Taz. This is such smart stuff. It makes moves seem important and builds up the world a bit.

Britt stops by Shida and talks shit. Superkick to the shin and then the basement superkick. Britt poses next to Cassandra on the apron to mock her - great stuff. Toothbreaker against the rope ends it. Okay, that's a shit finish and maybe don't put people's mouths on ropes right now. Ron Funches picks MOX to win it. MIKE GOLDBERG PICKS JAKE HAGER! AEW DoN hype video airs. Bubbly Bunch is on Santana in a giant Dr. Seuss hat. The Inner Circle facetimes each other and Hager has his kids cover their ears say he's gonna beat the shit out of Mox.

Jericho says that Hangman's missing and Cody Exotic probably fed him to Phaoroah. And he has no TP and needs it now. Suge D, Sugar Dunkerton, and/or Pineapple Pete is here to face Sammy G. Tony says this match is due to Jericho not liking poor Pete and now he's pitting him against Sammy. Suge boogies for a bit "Sooge? Suge? Screw it - PINEAPPLE PETE!" Tony and Jericho are some great together. Delayed brainbuster gets 2 for Sammy, and Jericho says Sammy's milking the airtime.

Multiple squash Samoan drop gets 2 while Tony talks about Jericho getting Sammy into AEW. Diagonal V trigger by Sammy before a burning hammer GTS hits hard. Torture Knee ends it and Jericho made this match so much better. He talks about Dasha needing to hit Sammy G up before Sammy says he'll beat the shit out of Darby and then he does Danielson's reverse curb stomps to the chest and Darby makes a save. "The sex God always ends up on top!" - Jericho is tremendous. Big John hypes up Hager, while Excalibur says he picks Mox to win since it's a falls count anywhere match.

Kip and his great tron come out to face Chuck Taylor while Tony sings the Best Friends song. They plug LoisRules and Jericho says you can buy shirts, pinball machines, and comdoms. Tony adds in "EDIBLES!?" to the mix in the best way possible. Jericho says that you don't need a great physique to be a great wrestler whle Chuck puts a half-crab on and he cites Bobby Eaton. Jericho cuts a promo on Vanguard 1 for stealing his shirt, the little bastard. Penelope Ford whips Chucky's ass and Tony calls Orange one of the best managers he's seen before Jericho calls him out on that and says he's watched wrestling for 65 years. Samoan driver hits for Chuck and Jericho calls that that the Chucky Cheese. Pop up Ligerbomb gets 2 for Chucky. Chucky hits sole food off a tornado DDT before Penelope takes her top off to show off her bra and then Orange copies her. Ford hits a Litacanrana before Kip schoolboys Chucky to win in a match that went on way too long, but Jericho made worthwhile.

Some actor talks about the title match while Ortiz says Hager will win it tonight. Sammy G and his white Beats give the nod to Hager. Spears squashes the uber-jobber Shawn Spears. Mox and Hager square off at Daily's Place with the usual Dynamite set. "MOXLEY ONCE CHEATED DEATH WITH A STAPH INFECTION, BUT HAGER MAY PROVE TO BE STRONGER...THAN STAPH INFECTION!" all righty.

They brawl all over the place and Hager lands some stuff knees to the gut and hard punches. Hager takes him down and gets the ground arm triangle, but Mox gets the break. Well what's the ref going to do here in this no holds barred match? DQ him in a World title match? Mox hits him with a chair and Death Riders him for the win.  This was a fun, stiff war and probably the best pure fight-style match in the empty arena era.

AEW Dynamite 4-8-20

It's been a while since I've been able to cover Dynamite - but I'm off work this week thanks to COVID-19, so I might as well get back in the saddle. We start off with a haunting Jake Roberts promo about his history not being his destiny, but now we have someone who is willing to stand in front of an oncoming train. You can do that, jump out of a plane, or face Lance Archer - and the result is the same. Marko was willing to lose it all, but it's better to be thought a fool than to take action and remove all doubt. He expect Cody to lose tonight so he doesn't have to face Lance Archer.

We've got a slew of heels and faces alongside the entranceway before Lance Archer comes out to kill someone and we get clips of him destroying Marko. Jericho and Tony are on the call and Lance is here to destroy Allen Ingleson. Big corner charge and the Blackout end. Jericho has giant black gloves and he hypes up Shida-Baker. Britt comes out and loves the heels. Jericho says he loves her outfits - they're sparkly! Jericho buries Shida's hometown as a dump.

Baker works a cowardly heel before getting a face wash and Jericho puts over the Ace Frehley boots she's got. Jericho tells Tony to get him a coffee soon. Baker gets 2 off a schoolboy, but Shida gets a triangle out of it. They exchange forearms and Britt eats a big shot and a step-up kick that misses, but she comes up bloody. Shida ets a falcon arrow that Jericho calls a Michinoku Driver 2020. She rolls into Lockjaw and grabs a glove from the ref, but gets cradled for 2.

BASEMENT KNEE BY SHIDA! Shida no-sells the fisherman twist and shout, so Britt just yoinks her down for 2.9. Britt lands a basement superkick as she comes up super-bloody and Jericho says she's now Gene Simmons. Britt goes up and Shida hits wasteland across the top rope. Running basement knee hits and ends it. THIS RULED. Britt came off like such a star here. Kenny and Nakazawa meet and Michael wants THE BEST FRIENDS to be their name and he wants Kenny to change Trent and Chucky's name. They come in and put THE BEST FRIENDS name on the line despite Kenny not wanting the drama.

Tag rankings are showcased before the women's rankings and then the men's rankings are run down. This is smart filler as it builds up the world of AEW and adds to the sports-like presentation. Hager is somehow the top contender for the year with four wins over not many stars. Mox says he and Hager are not in the business of putting smiles on faces. Hager says he wants to be champion because it pays more - he doesn't care about the glory. Hager says he sacrifices things for his wife and kid. We get a great Road to video on this whole thing and it builds both guys up perfectly. Hager wants to be both AEW World champ and Bellator Heavyweight champ.

Another Road To video for Cody saying he wants the TNT Title and he's still in the top five rankings despite not being able to get a shot for the World title. Spears says that he'll be a first and there aren't many firsts in wrestling still. Cody says the stip is an albatross for him...HE'S THE ONE WHO PUT THE STIP IN PLACE. A recap of their rivalry from Fyter Fest to All Out airs and Cody says that he's a 15 year overnight success. Perfect timing for a Spring Fling sale graphic as Kenny points right at it.

 

Spears says he's looking for a partner and wants Nakazawa to impress him. The cup is out and Jericho does Vince's HE'S GONNA PUKE! They take out Nakazawa with the double stomp/Dudebuster to win it. Brodie Lee goes out in a nice Benz and buries the goons for not dressing enough like stars - PERCEPTION IS REALITY! Only one of the three looks like a star and can make heads turn at an airport! He rejects the two goons, but has something to offer the member dressed nicely.

Brandi does an autism inclusion video. A member of the ring crew says that his younger brother has autism, and this means a lot to him. Britt is all busted up and says that Shida is a dirty fighter. Fortuantely, she didn't mess her teeth up - but even if she did, she could fix them because SHE'S A DENTIST! Tremendous! Another Hager video showcases his Bellator fights and tying them into his AEW run  and then Mox says that Hager can't dig as deep as he can. DEMASCUS Matt Hardy mocks PNP and their name and calls Hager Jakenstein. Then he and Vanguard 1 bury the Inner Circle shirt and set it ablaze. Also, Hardy challenges Jericho to the Elite Deletion at the Hardy Compound. 

Lee Johnson comes out to face Mr. Brodie Lee. He's in new black, gold, and white gear that looks far better than his debut gear. Lee lands an Eddie-style hilo. Spiral black hole slam hits and the discus lariat takes him out. Love them working in Mr. Brodie Lee as much as they can. A Spears-Cody video airs before Spears comes out sans Tully, who wisely isn't traveling during all this now. They brawl and we get a guardrail spot with Cody being suplexed into the railing on the ring. Cody gets 2 off a snapslam before Spears gets 2 off a Ligerbomb.

Spears almost tosses Cody into Brandi, but Cody stops short - and eats a C4 through a table from the ring! Heels give that a "THAT WAS AWESOME!" chant. Okay, this is the best crowd-free match yet. Babyfaces cheer on Cody with a chant for him. Cody gets two Cross Rhodes and the figure four and pins him. He didn't pass out - he was just in too much pain to get his shoulders up. This was great! Faces chant Cody's theme with him and Jericho calls him Cody Exotic. Tremendous show!