The first episode of AEW Dynamite in 2020 aired live from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville tonight. Taz joined Jim Ross and Excalibur on commentary for the show. In addition to the takeaways below, Sammy Guevara defeated Dustin Rhodes after Jake Hager interfered.
Here are 6 takeaways from this week’s episode:
Cody Defeated Darby Allin In A Great Match
Cody squared off against Darby Allin tonight on Dynamite. Cody and Darby battled to a draw the last time they face each other at Fyter Fest. Arn Anderson (Head Coach of the Nightmare Family) accompanied Cody to the ring for the match.
Cody started off the match in control and leveled Darby with a shoulder tackle. Allin and Cody traded roll-ups but both men were able to kick out at two. Arn coached up Cody in the corner. Allin went for a Coffin Drop but Cody caught him and went for Cross Rhodes but Darby escaped.
Allin knocked Cody out of the ring and hit him with a Suicide Dive. Back in the ring, Cody hit the Disaster Kick and Darby tumbled to the outside. Allin rolled back into the ring and slammed Cody’s left shoulder into the turnbuckle.
Cody locked in the Figure Four in the middle of the ring. Allin fought through the pain and was able to get the tip of his finger on the ropes to break the hold. Allin Dropkicked Cody into the turnbuckle and went for the cover but Rhodes was able to kick out at two.
Darby locked in a submission hold of his own but Cody was able to get his boot on the bottom rope to break the hold. Allin ripped off the padding on the turnbuckle but Cody shoved him to the ramp. Darby climbed to the top rope and went for a Crossbody but Cody rolled through for a two count.
Cody connected with a Powerslam and both men fell to the canvas as the crowd chanted “Cody!”. Cody connected with a Cutter as Justin Roberts announced that there was 10-minutes remaining in the match. Cody planted Allin with a reverse Suplex off the top rope and went for the cover but Allin somehow was able to kick out at two as Dynamite went to a commercial break.
Back from the break, Darby Allin hit Cody with the Coffin Drop on the apron. Cody went for another Cutter but Darby was able to block it. Cody planted Darby with the Cross Rhodes but Darby kicked out at two. Cody charged at Allin but wound up running into the exposed turnbuckle. Allin went for the Coffin Drop but Cody got his knees up and rolled up Darby for the pinfall victory. Arn Anderson hopped on the apron and yelled at Cody to get his knees up during the finish.
Nyla Rose Attacked Riho After She Retained The Title
Riho defended the AEW Women’s Championship against Nyla Rose, Britt Baker, and Hikaru Shida. Before the match, Nyla Rose attacked Riho and Britt Baker. Shida hit Nyla with a kendo stick and the match officially began.
Shida hit Rose with a knee to the face and went for the cover but Nyla kicked out at two. Shida planted Riho with an Arm Drag but Nyla then dragged her to the outside. Rose grabbed a table from under the ring and set it up on the outside as Dynamite went to a commercial break.
When Dynamite returned, Rose hit a Senton on Shida through the table. Riho connected with a Double Stomp to Rose and unloaded a series of punches. Britt Baker planted Riho with a Neckbreaker for a near fall.
Shida planted Britt with a Suplex and then delivered a Suplex that sent Riho flying onto Nyla. Nyla hit Shida with a German Suplex and then placed Riho on top of her. Rose climbed to the top rope and went for a Swanton Bomb but Riho and Shida got out of the way. Riho hit Rose with Double Knees and then Shida slammed Nyla to the canvas. Riho then rolled up Baker to retain the title.
After the match, Nyla attacked Riho with a Clothesline and set up a table in the ring. Rose put Riho on top of the table and connected with a Splash off the second rope. Riho will defend her title against Kris Statlander next week on Dynamite.
Moxley Outlasted Trent
Trent faced Jon Moxley tonight on Dynamite. Orange Cassidy and Chuck accompanied Trent to the ring. Moxley and Trent locked up in the middle of the ring to start the match off. Moxley took Trent down and applied a Headlock. Trent battled to his feet and then applied a Headlock of his own.
Moxley broke free and lit up Trent’s chest with a few chops. Trent hit a series of chops of his own and leveled Jon with a knee to the face. Moxley slammed Trent on the entrance ramp as the crowd chanted his name.
Back in the ring, Trent hit Moxley with a few more chops and followed it up with a Suplex that sent Jon to the outside. Trent flipped onto Moxley and then rolled him back into the ring. Trent planted Moxley with a DDT and went for the cover but Jon was able to kick out at the last moment.
Moxley battled back and slammed Trent to the canvas for a two count. Moxley followed it up with a massive Clothesline but Trent responded with a big Clothesline of his own for a near fall.
Orange Cassidy got into the ring and put his hands in his pockets. Moxley taunted Cassidy and turned around into a knee to the face from Trent. Trent followed it up with a Piledriver for a near fall as Justin Roberts announced that there were 10-minutes remaining in the match. Moxley planted Trent with the Paradigm Shift on the entrance ramp and rolled him back into the ring. Moxley hit another Paradigm Shift for the pinfall victory.
Moxley Will Answer Chris Jericho Next Week
Sammy Guevara interrupted Moxley’s victory celebration and made his way through the crowd. Guevara stated that Inner Circle has a big surprise for Moxley and AEW Champion Chris Jericho appeared on the jumbotron.
Jericho said that he wants Moxley to be a part of the Inner Circle and that he can offer more than the other factions in AEW. Chris stated that he wants Moxley to lead Inner Circle with him and offered him 49% of Inner Circle LLC.
Chris offered Moxley a new 4GT car and showed a custom “Mox” license plate. He added that he wants Inner Circle to beat the hell out of The Elite and that the world could be theirs.
Moxley said that he always considered Chris Jericho a friend and a mentor. Moxley stated that he will give Jericho his answer in person next week on Dynamite.
While this was a pretty lame segment, it did give casual viewers a reason to tune in next week. The first hour of Dynamite was excellent and flowed very well. I thought Moxley and Trent had a hell of a match tonight.
MJF Announced What Cody Has To Do To Get A Match With Him
MJF came down to the ring with Wardlow tonight on Dynamite to announce what the stipulations will be for his match against Cody.
The first stipulation was that the match had to take place at Revolution and that Cody cannot touch him until him then. Stipulation #2 was that Cody has to defeat Wardlow in a Steel Cage for the match to happen at Revolution.
The third stipulation was that Cody get down on all fours like a dog and MJF is going to whip him ten times. He added that each scar will be a reminder that he is better than him and Cody knows it.
The Elite Picked Up A Win
The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega faced Lucha Brothers and PAC in the main event of this week’s show. Hangman Page joined commentary for the match with a glass of whiskey in hand, Nick planted Fenix with an Arm Drag and followed it up with a Dropkick as Dynamite went to a break.
When Dynamite returned, PAC flipped onto Omega outside the ring. PAC tagged in and beat Kenny down in the corner of the ring. Nick tagged in and planted PAC with a Bulldog.
Matt Jackson tagged in after Nick connected with a Sunset Flip Powerbomb. Young Bucks followed up with double Destroyers as the crowd went insane. Omega tagged in and traded shots with PAC in the middle of the ring.
Omega connected with a Snap Dragon Suplex and followed it up with a Powerbomb. Kenny went for the cover but Pentagon broke it up at two. Pentagon took out Matt and Nick with a couple of Slingblades and followed it up with a Backstabber to Omega.
Young Bucks took out Pentagon with a couple Superkicks as Omega hit Fenix with the V-Trigger. Fenix battled back with a Cutter and tagged PAC in. PAC connected with Black Arrow and went for the cover but the Young Bucks broke it up.
PAC applied the Brutalizer on Kenny in the middle of the ring but Matt broke it up. Fenix tagged in and leaped off the top rope but Omega countered with a V-Trigger. Omega then planted Fenix with the One Winged Angel for the pinfall victory. The Elite tried to get Hangman to come to the ring and celebrate with them but he declined as Dynamite went off the air.
I thought this week’s episode of Dynamite was great. The entire episode flew by and was very entertaining. AEW ended 2019 with the terrible Dark Order angle but started off 2020 with an excellent episode of Dynamite.
